The National Assembly (NA) has just passed a Resolution of the 9th session of the 15th tenure, in which it approved the addition of investment forms under the public-private partnership (PPP) and investment-business methods according to the Investment Law for the North-South high-speed railway project, in addition to the public investment form.
Many large enterprises ask for investment
The project investment policy was approved by the National Assembly in Resolution 172/2024 with a total preliminary investment of more than 1.7 million billion VND (about 67.34 billion USD), implementation period from 2025-2035, design speed of 350 km/hour.
Before the National Assembly passed the resolution officially paving the way for private participation in the project, as of June 25, the Government and the Ministry of Construction had received proposals from five private enterprises, including: Vinspeed High-Speed Railway Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (Vinspeed); Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company (THACO); Mekolor and Great USD joint venture; Thang Long National Construction Joint Stock Company; Vietnam Railway Transport Joint Stock Company. Of which, Vinspeed and THACO are two investors whose proposals have been carefully and methodically researched.
Specifically, Vinspeed proposed to invest directly, committing to contribute 20% of the capital (about 12.27 billion USD). For the remaining amount (excluding compensation costs, relocation support, and resettlement for site clearance), this enterprise proposed that the government provide interest-free loans for 35 years. Vinspeed committed to repay the debt on time and complete the project within 5 years. Meanwhile, THACO proposed to invest in the project with a capital contribution of 20%, the rest borrowed from domestic and foreign financial institutions. At the same time, it also proposed that the government guarantee and support all loan interest for 30 years. THACO committed to holding the controlling stake, not transferring it to foreign investors, and implementing the project within 7 years.
Pressing the button to approve the resolution allowing private participation in the project, National Assembly delegate Hoang Van Cuong (Hanoi) emphasized that "there is no reason not to assign the responsibility to the private sector". However, this is the backbone infrastructure project of the country, so even if the private sector participates in the investment, it must comply with the requirements and regulations of the state. "The most important thing is to ensure that it is truly a domestic investment project, not a domestic investor registering for investment and then importing products and components from abroad and only assembling and processing. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to whether the investor commits to localization; has links with other domestic enterprises and investors to produce components, accessories... or not?" - Mr. Hoang Van Cuong noted.
High-speed rail is a form of transport that is considered environmentally friendly, helping to reduce emissions from personal vehicles. Photo: EPA
The project must approach international standards.
Answering the press on the sidelines of the recent National Assembly session, Politburo member and Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said that in reality, many important projects have been assigned to the private sector, such as highway projects, renewable energy projects, tunneling through mountains or large bridges... "That shows that private enterprises can carry out large-scale projects" - the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged.
Regarding the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, according to the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister, many other enterprises will certainly register to invest in the near future. The Government welcomes and highly appreciates the enterprises' proposals to participate and considers this as their commitment. At the same time, it emphasizes that it must be done quickly, considering it as a boost for the economy. "This railway line must be built in a modern manner, approaching international standards. At the same time, we must fight against waste, price gouging, group interests, negativity, and "backyards" when implementing it" - the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
According to the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister, the implementation of a number of urban railway projects in recent times has left many valuable lessons for better implementation of this project. It is necessary to note that in addition to the goal of building a high-speed railway line to serve the people and develop the economy, it is necessary to form a railway industry with a skilled workforce, from which to develop other lines.
Regarding the project standards, when the requirement of reaching international standards is set, from the design, supervision to evaluation stages, all must meet international standards. With the existing legal corridor, it is necessary to consider and evaluate the effectiveness of which form of investment is the best at this time.
There is no such thing as contracting.
At the discussion session in the hall on the draft Law on Railways (amended), after listening to the speeches of the National Assembly delegates, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh affirmed that the National Assembly's approval of the addition of investment forms under the PPP method and investment - business under the Investment Law will open up opportunities for the private sector and mobilize resources to reduce pressure on the state budget.
In response to concerns about assigning private participation in this project, Minister Tran Hong Minh stated that the law stipulates the role of state management in approving the standard framework to control technology, maintaining the authority of specialized construction agencies, conducting appraisal, inspection, and acceptance of the quality of works. On the other hand, every year there are still relevant figures from the State Audit, so there is no "contracting" or risk of private participation and then selling the project to foreign countries.
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Source: https://nld.com.vn/chinh-thuc-cho-tu-nhan-lam-duong-sat-cao-toc-19625062920085444.htm
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