The Government welcomes businesses to invest in the high-speed north-south railway.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said that many businesses have proposed to build the North-South high-speed railway project. The Government calls for and welcomes businesses to submit applications for the high-speed railway project.

High-speed railway is needed to serve people and develop the economy.

At the recent 9th Session, the National Assembly passed the Railway Law (amended) with many specific support policies for railway development and enterprises participating in investment in this field. The Resolution of the session also stated that, for the North-South high-speed railway project, in addition to the form of public investment, the Government can choose the appropriate form of investment and investor.

Regarding this issue, on the sidelines of the 9th Session of the National Assembly, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh shared with the press the Government's orientation, policies and viewpoints on investing in the North-South high-speed railway, as well as the role and opportunities for private enterprises in this key project.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the policy of investing in the North-South high-speed railway line was approved by the National Assembly after the Central Committee and the Politburo issued important conclusions. This created great excitement among the people. He emphasized that investing in a modern railway system is necessary and should have been done a long time ago.

“The country's economy has developed, but to serve growth, we still have to travel on 100-year-old railways, which are very inadequate and outdated,” the Deputy Prime Minister stated.

“For railways, we must act quickly, considering it as a boost to the economy. We cannot delay any longer because we cannot continue on the current railway lines,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh highly appreciated the role and capacity of the private economic sector. He said that many key national projects such as highways, mountain tunnels, renewable energy plants... have been and are being implemented very effectively by the private sector.

According to him, the Politburo recently issued Resolution 68 on private economic development, in which it assessed that the private economy has been and is a leading force in innovation, application of science and technology, improving labor productivity, product quality, and is capable of carrying out important national tasks and projects. Therefore, the State needs to have a mechanism to create conditions for the private sector to participate in important projects.

The Deputy Prime Minister informed that in reality, as soon as the policy of building a high-speed railway line was announced, many private enterprises sent documents to the Government expressing their desire to participate in the investment. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, there are currently "certainly no less than 5" private enterprises proposing to participate and this number has not stopped.

“The Government welcomes and highly appreciates private enterprises proposing to participate in this project and considers this as a commitment. The Government welcomes, thanks and also requests that enterprises continue to propose to the Government to participate in the project,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Developing an international railway industry

Preliminary design of the North-South high-speed railway project. (Photo: VNA)

Regarding the requirements for the new railway line, the Deputy Prime Minister said that Vietnam is a country with a geographical length of nearly 3,000km, so the railway system must be built modernly, approaching international standards. At the same time, the project needs to be implemented quickly, effectively, economically, avoiding capital increase and eliminating negative group interests.

The government expects to not only build a simple railway line, but also form an entire urban ecosystem that develops along the line, with each station being an urban area, accompanied by an economic ecosystem including cultural centers, tourist areas, industrial zones and accompanying services.

Looking back at urban railway lines such as Cat Linh-Ha Dong or Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien, the Deputy Prime Minister said that these are projects that bring many lessons, both successes and limitations.

With the North-South high-speed railway, the Government sets a higher goal: Not only a modern transport route but also must go hand in hand with the development of the domestic railway industry, training of human resources, skilled engineers and workers, and gradual mastery of technology.

“What we need is a high-speed railway to serve the people and the economy. Next, we need a railway industry, a team of engineers and skilled workers to operate it. At the same time, we need to develop new railway lines because the country's demand is still very large,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

To implement the North-South high-speed railway project, in addition to public investment, the Government is allowed to choose investment under the public-private partnership and business investment methods. (Illustration photo: CONG VINH)

The Deputy Prime Minister said that it is important to choose the most suitable investment model to achieve optimal efficiency for the country. The design, supervision and operation of the project must be carried out according to international standards, with the participation of experienced experts.

“The requirement is that when building a railway, it must reach international standards. Therefore, the design, supervision and evaluation must follow international standards, because we really do not have experience, so we have to invite experts to evaluate. Our way of doing things is to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’, if we do not know, we have to go to school,” Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh emphasized.

To achieve those goals, the Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that there must be the right approach and steps, the selection process must be very public, and the criteria must be clear and specific.

Many businesses are now interested in this project. The Government has proposed and the National Assembly has adjusted and supplemented to have other forms of investment to expand opportunities for the private sector to participate.

“The National Assembly has approved this policy, which means we have a legal framework for our choice. Now the highest goal is to consider and evaluate whether public investment is good, public-private partnership is good, or private investment is good,” said Mr. Binh.

The government requires private enterprises wishing to participate in the project to demonstrate financial capacity, capital mobilization ability, construction capacity, experience in implementing large projects, technology and specific construction time. All documents will be assessed by the State Council and guaranteed to be public and transparent, "there is no such thing as sneaking around for Mr. A or Mr. B", the Deputy Prime Minister affirmed.

Mr. Binh also expressed his belief that this approach will help achieve the goal of building a railway with an ecosystem, industry and a workforce to serve railway development, towards a modern railway industry in Vietnam.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/chinh-phu-hoan-nghenh-doanh-nghiep-tham-gia-dau-tu-duong-sat-bac-nam-toc-do-cao-post891968.html