An 8 month ‘Bridging Phase’ was recently approved by the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyễn Tấn Dũng and endorsed by the Ministry of Construction.

Funded by DFID Vietnam, the Bridging Phase will test the modified CoST procedures included in the CoST Global Programme to be launched later this year. The modifications based on lessons learnt from a successful 3 year pilot including a simplified disclosure process.

The Bridging Phase also includes a formal programme design and funding proposal for the succeeding “Roll-out Phase”. The Roll-out Phase will be a broad 3-year program starting in 2013, intended to provide the substantive evidence of viability and impact needed to support formal regulation and mainstreaming by the Government.

Two disclosures of project information are planned for the Bridging Phase in June and September with the aim of establishing a quarterly disclosure cycle. The regular disclosure of project information throughout the project cycle is core to CoST. Workshops presenting mid-term and final results of the CoST Bridging Phase are expected in August and November respectively.