USAID issued the four-year contract for civil works to Vietnamese firm VINA E&C Investment and Construction JSC (VINA E&C). Under the contract, VINA E&C will complete the excavation of contaminated soil on the air base and prepare it for treatment.
“This announcement represents the United States’ commitment to our partnership with Vietnam,” said Aler Grubbs, USAID/Vietnam Mission Director. “This contract will complete critical preparatory work, paving the way for the treatment phase of the project. This marks the largest contract yet by USAID to a local Vietnamese organization, as we make a concerted effort to build Vietnamese expertise in this nascent area of environmental health and safety.”
“It is an honor to be selected to lead the next phase of the joint cooperative project between the US and Vietnam governments to remediate dioxin at Bien Hoa Air Base,” said Vu Van Liem, General Director of VINA E&C. “This contract is a great opportunity for VINA to continue achieving project progress. We look forward to applying our specialized expertise to meet the project’s high safety and health requirements and technical specifications, and contribute to the overall success of the project.”
USAID is working with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to remediate approximately 500,000 cubic meters of dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment on and around the Bien Hoa Air Base. USAID previously completed the clean-up of dioxin contamination at Danang Airport in 2018. The Bien Hoa clean-up effort involves nearly four times the volume of soil as the Danang Airport clean-up. USAID and MND launched the Bien Hoa project in April 2019. In June 2022, USAID completed the remediation of the first parcel of land—a community lake located outside of Gate 2. The whole project is expected to take the MND and US Government 10 years and cost an estimated USD450 million. The US Government’s contribution to-date is USD163.25 million out of a total expected contribution of USD300 million.
In 2023, the United States and Vietnam will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their Comprehensive Partnership. Our close cooperation over the past decades to overcome legacies of war is yet another example of how the United States and Vietnam work strategically together to create a better future for our two peoples.