THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Deputy PM okays underground shopping centre in HCM Citying

Deputy PM okays underground  shopping centre in HCM Citying

TO BE THE LARGEST FACILITY OF ITS KIND IN THE COUNTRY

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has agreed in principle to construction of an underground shopping centre in downtown Ho Chi Minh City alongside the city’s first metro-line project.
Minh has asked the city’s People’s Committee to seek funds from official development assistance loans to develop the Ben Thanh underground shopping centre project.
The city administration has been asked to work with the Planning and Investment, Construction and Finance ministries to choose the most appropriate solution and report to the government for consideration. The underground 90-metre-wide and 500-metre-long shopping area will run from Ben Thanh Market to the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House at a depth of 3 metres under Le Loi Street.
With an area of 45,000 square metres, the shopping centre will be the largest underground shopping centre in Vietnam, according to Bui Xuan Cuong, head of the management board of the urban railways in Ho Chi Minh City.
Stores will face one another in the shopping area, enabling the space in the middle to function as a walking street, Cuong said, adding that the underground walking street will be connected with the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street.
There will also be entrances that connect the underground shopping centre with Ben Thanh market, stores and office buildings above ground in the downtown area.
The underground trade centre will require an investment of around 7 trillion dong (Bt11 billion).
The project has so far attracted only one interested investor from Japan, which has suggested funding 30 per cent of the project, while the remainder would be covered by the Vietnamese government.
If approved, the underground shopping centre will be constructed along with the Ben Thanh central station of the under-construction metro route in the southern metropolis.
From the central station, passengers can board the trains on three different routes to Suoi Tien Amusement Park in District 9, Tham Luong Depot in District 12 and Mien Tay (Western) Bus Station in Binh Tan district under a mega-project running from 2012-23.
Construction of Ben Thanh central station and an underground section from there to the Opera House under the city’s first metro line began last month.
It is the last of four phases of the 19.7-kilometre metro line linking Ben Thanh market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Amusement Park in District 9.
Of the 19.7km, 2.6km is underground. It will have three underground and 11 elevated stations.
The test runs will begin in 2019 and service a year later, two years behind schedule. The metro route is funded by Japan and reciprocal capital from the city.
 

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