Construction set to start on Long Thanh Airport, Vietnam's most expensive infrastructure project

Construction of Vietnam's USD16 billion, 100 million passenger per annum new airport for Ho Chi Minh City, the most populated city-region in the country, is at last under way, seven years after it was first mooted.

It will be one of the largest airport projects in the Asia Pacific region and the most expensive piece of infrastructure in Vietnam's history.

Even now, it is subject to further possible delays as the government grapples to get 40 transport infrastructure projects back on track, some of them in preparation for an anticipated surge in foreign visitors.

But the most pressing issue remains the need to get the private sector on board; if not now, at least when the airport is operational, and there might be an opportunity for PPP financing and operation of future terminals.