HO CHI MINH CITY, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnamese government has decided to build a new passenger terminal at Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh City with estimated investment of 786 million U.S. dollars, the Transport Ministry said on Thursday.

The new terminal with a floor area of 200,000 square meters in the airport's southern part will enable it to serve an addition of 20 million passengers a year.

The airport's northern area, including a golf course and a 16-hectare plot of land currently under management of the Defense Ministry, will be used to construct supporting facilities such as a cargo terminal and an aircraft repair center.

Earlier, the government asked Ho Chi Minh City authorities to increase the airport's serving capacity to 40-50 million passengers a year in the next few year. The airport is now overloaded, handling some 35 million passengers annually.

Vietnam is preparing for construction of a new international airport named Long Thanh in southern Dong Nai province which is expected to become operational in 2025 to help lessen overloading at Tan Son Nhat international airport, the ministry said, noting that the airport in Ho Chi Minh City is estimated to annually serve 60 million passengers from 2023.