Finance & Funding

The Italian firm ANAS which manages much of the country’s network is setting out a major programme for road investment. In all €29.5 billion will be spent on upgrading Italian roads managed by ANAs over the next five years. This budget includes the €23.4 billion for new civil engineering work. Of the €23.4 billion, €8.4 billion is aimed at the completion of existing sections of road while €10.5 billion is for maintenance work or safety upgrades.

A large chunk of the funding required for the improved road connection between Kenya and Tanzania has now been sourced. The African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide US$300 million of the financing required for the project. However the remaining $485 million of funding necessary still remains to be secured.

Discussions between Serbia and Bosnia regarding the planned highway linking the two countries have yet to be carried out. The highway will join the two capitals, Belgrade and Sarajevo. However Turkey has said it will not enter discussions regarding its providing financing for the project until Bosnia and Serbia have determined the route the new highway will take. Turkey says that it recognises the economic importance of this highway for the region as a whole, which is why it is willing to discuss financing.

Key road improvements for Argentina have now received a budget plan from the Federal Government. Road improvement works in Rio Negro Province will see a budget of US$ 277 million for 2018. Nearly half of the budget will be used to improve and maintain Dual Carriageway 22 and Route 23. Meanwhile work is now being carried out on the third ring road for Buenos Aires, which will join Motorway 2 and Acceso Oeste. The route will measure 83km long and is costing $606 million. The improved route will be a dual carr

The project to construct the ring road around Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City is now gathering pace. The project to construct three separate sections of the Ring Road No2 is expected to cost US$660.35 million, according to an estimate by the HCMC Department of Transport. The first section of the ring road runs from Binh Chanh District's Nguyen Van Linh Parkway to National Highway 1's An Lac Intersection. The second section of the new ring road runs between the Binh Thai Intersection in District 9

Tenders for two expressway projects in Thailand will open by mid-2018. The projects are worth around US$1.5 billion in all. The tender process is being handled by the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat). Construction of one of the expressways should commence by late 2018 and the route would then be open to traffic by the end of 2021, if all goes to plan. The 10.5km expressway will connect the N2 Nawamin Road with the Kasetsart intersection and will be tolled, with a project traffic volume of 80,000

An improved road link will boost transport between Norway and Russia. The two countries have already spend around US$160 million to upgrade the road link that connection between the two. A 25km stretch is connecting Norway’s Sor-Varanger municipality with Russia’s Pechengsky District in the Murmansk Region. This is providing a shorter road route between Kirkenes in Norway and the important port of Murmansk in Russia and will help boost transport and trade between the two countries, as well as for Finland.

A loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) worth US$271.3 million will help pay for the construction of road stretches between Kurty and Burylbaytal as well as Uzynagash and Otar. Kazakhstan's state budget will provide a further $47.9 million for the works, with the road sections measuring 85km and 96km respectively and due for completion in 2021.

The ambitious road development programme set out by the Colombian Government may not meet all of its targets. The National Development Plan of 2014-2018 has set out plans for the completion of key road and highway connections, including several bridge and tunnel links. However, Colombia's National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) has so far attained 50% of the targets set out in its road development programme for the period.