The government of Vietnam has issued a list of 35 projects, which will be developed under the PPP and BOT (build - operate - transfer) forms.

The list of priority projects, which includes 127 national projects calling for outside funding from now to 2020, was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The government has called for nearly US$60 billion of foreign capital.

One of the most important project, which will be developed through a PPP model, is the North-South highway  from Ninh Binh to Thanh Hoa and from Thanh Hoa to Nghi Son. The total investment is estimated at US$1.9 billion.

Other major projects in the list are: Noi Bai-Ha Long highway (US$1.8 billion); Long Thanh Airport in Dong Nai Province (US$5.6 billion for phase 1); Bien Hoa-Vung Tau railway (US$5 billion); a Dau Giay-Lien Khuong highway (US$3.5 billion); and a energy core in Binh Dinh Province (US$4 billion).

There are also three projects planned to develop infrastructure for industrial parks and 10 projects of urban water supply and solid waste treatment.

In early April we published that Vietnam failed to attract infrastructure investors due to poor legislation framework. Thirty-eight investment projects to be delivered through the public-private partnership (PPP) format had not been able to get off the ground.

In March 2013, Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) hired Hogan Lovells to address issues that have hindered PPPs in Vietnam and to "re-energise" the programme. Law firm Hogan Lovells chaired a series of meetings with interested private sector companies in Vietnam and Singapore to gauge reaction to a major re-drafting of Vietnam's legislation on PPP projects.

The Ministry of Transport with the help of the World Bank are currently bidding the first real public-private partnership (PPP) project in Vietnam, the Dau Giay-Phan Thiet highway. The Dau Giay-Phan Thiet expressway project is located in the Southeastern region with four lanes and a length of 100 kilometers at a total investment of $757 million.