HCMC - The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is funding HCMC’s first metro line, held a meeting with the HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) on June 3 to discuss the progress of the project.

The JICA delegation, led by Junko Takahashi, senior representative at the JICA Vietnam Office, and MAUR leaders also discussed the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, capital disbursement, the financial situation and the implementation of contracts for major packages of the metro line that will link Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9. Addressing the meeting, Bui Xuan Cuong, director of MAUR, thanked JICA for its support and asked the agency to continue cooperating with the authority over major tasks for 2020 including capital disbursement, refunding advanced payments and dealing with the challenges caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. Cuong also requested the Japanese Government to assist Vietnam in importing trains for the metro line and the travel of Japanese experts to the country. Work on the 19.7-kilometer metro line began in August 2012. The line has 2.6 kilometers of underground track and over 17 kilometers of elevated track as well as three underground and 11 elevated stations. The metro line is more than 70% complete, and MAUR said it is accelerating the progress of components such as the installation of the tracks, lighting and signal systems and equipment at the stations. It expects to complete 85% of the metro line by the end of this year and put it into service in late 2021.