Toll collection right auction launched                                    The Ministry of Transport just kick-started the auctioning process relevant to Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong expressway’s toll collection right handover. As of this time, setting an adequate traffic volume growth level for the road remains the only entanglement in establishing the auction’s starting price, according to the ministry (MoT). The Cuu Long Corporation for Investment, Development and Project Management of Infrastructure (Cuu Long CIPM), which was trusted to pen the auction project, proposed a 6 per cent hike in annual traffic volume along the road. It temporarily set the auction’s starting price for acquiring the right on toll collection in fight years from October 1, 2013 at VND1.603 trillion ($76.3 million) which was based on 2012’s actual toll amount and a combination of factors such as an 8 per cent interest to investor’s capital investment, 10 per cent value added tax and 6.6 per cent collection expenses etc. Successful investors shall take charge of fulfilling payment within six months in three rounds, of which 40 per cent of the contract value must be paid in the first round right after the contract becomes valid. Cuu Long CIPM’s deputy general director Duong Thi Tram Anh viewed the 6 per cent annual traffic hike proposal as reasonable as the National Highway 1 which runs parallel to the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong highway is still toll free so it would continue attracting a huge volume of traffic. Deputy head of Ministry of Finance’s Department of Public Asset Management Nguyen Tan Thinh did not satisfy with the proposal, arguing that the developer should mull higher traffic volume growth to bolster the road’s usage efficiency. Thinh also said bright development perspective would also spur the traffic volume. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong was reported to propose Cuu Long CIPM apply 8 per cent traffic growth hike when setting the auction starting price, which will see Cuu Long CIPM’s auction starting price jump by an additional VND30 billion ($1.4 million). Despite these arguments, the auction of Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong expressway’s toll collection right is forecast to garner investors’ special attention. Cuu Long CIPM statistics show that in July 2013 the expressway attracted around 32,830 car equivalents each day, of which below 12 set cars accounted for 35 per cent. Toll collection on the road came to around VND1.1 billion ($52,300) each day in July though it was not a peak period for traffic. “At least two foreign investors have showcased interests into the auction,” Anh said. To complete the handover before December 2013, MoT Deputy Chief Nguyen Hong Truong had asked Cuu Long CIPM to shortly complete the auction project and inform of the auction on local media no later than October 1, 2013. The auction slated to take place one month later on November 1, 2013. “The auction is open to every individual and business having real capacity and demand,” Truong underscored. The Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong expressway, part of the north-south highway network, connects Ho Chi Minh City to Tien Giang province in the Mekong Delta. Its construction cost was around VND10 trillion ($476 million) Construction of the project kicked started in December 2004 and the 50 kilometre long expressway was open to traffic from February 2010. Source: VIR