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| Scene of the meeting on the afternoon of November 20. (Photo: DUY LINH) |
On the afternoon of November 20, continuing the program of Phase 2 of the 8th Session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the adjustment of the investment policy of the Long Thanh International Airport project (abbreviated as Long Thanh airport). The National Assembly approved the investment policy of the Project in Resolution No. 94/2015/QH13 with an investment scale of 100 million passengers/year, the implementation roadmap includes 3 phases. Of which, Phase 1 invests in the construction of 1 runway and 1 passenger terminal with a capacity of 25 million passengers/year; completed and put into operation by 2025 at the latest. The Government directed the preparation of a feasibility study report for each phase of the Project and reported to the National Assembly for approval before deciding on investment. According to the report of
the Ministry of Transport , regarding the scale of investment in Phase 1, at the time of submitting the project investment policy for approval, due to difficulties in determining capital sources for investment, the National Assembly decided that Phase 1 of the project would only invest in "Runway No. 1" in the northern region. In case Long Thanh International Airport has to temporarily stop operating due to an incident on "Runway No. 1", Tan Son Nhat International Airport will play a supporting role for Long Thanh International Airport. During the implementation of Phase 1, the Government found that the construction of "Runway No. 3" 400m north of "Runway No. 1" under investment right in Phase 1 has many advantages and will bring many benefits. Therefore, the Government proposed that the National Assembly adjust 3 contents: moving the "take-off and landing" runway No. 3 from phase 3 to phase 1 (constructing 2 runways in parallel); postponing the completion time of Long Thanh airport to the end of 2026, instead of the end of 2025 - thus 1 year later than the National Assembly's resolution; proposing to allow the Government to organize the approval of the feasibility study report to adjust Phase 1 of the project according to its authority without having to report to the National Assembly for approval. Speaking at the meeting, delegate Tran Hoang Ngan (Ho Chi Minh City delegation) highly appreciated the efforts of the Government, the Ministry of Transport, Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV), contractors and workers who have been actively working day and night on the construction site to speed up the project's progress.
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| National Assembly Delegate Tran Hoang Ngan (Ho Chi Minh City delegation). (Photo: DUY LINH) |
Delegates agreed to the proposal to add investment in the northern runway No. 3 to phase 1 and extend the completion time of phase 1 to the end of 2026; allowing the Government to approve the adjusted feasibility study report of phase 1. Also expressing high agreement with the necessity of adjusting the investment policy of the Long Thanh airport project as submitted by the Government, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (Ba Ria-Vung Tau delegation) emphasized that this is a national key project, of strategic significance, playing an important role in promoting
socio -economic development, consolidating national defense and security, so there should be solutions to ensure effective implementation and early operation. Reporting and explaining a number of contents related to the Long Thanh International Airport project, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that, regarding the feasibility of capital sources, Phase 1 of the project has a total investment of 109,111 billion VND. In which, the Component 3 project invested by ACV has a total investment of VND99,019 billion, equivalent to USD4.23 billion. Up to now, the Component 3 project has a surplus of about VND3,908 billion. The ongoing and upcoming projects of the Component 3 project have all been allocated appropriate reserves, so the use of about VND3,304 billion/VND3,908 billion from savings and reserves to invest in runway No. 3 does not affect other projects and does not incur additional costs leading to the need to carry out adjustment procedures, affecting the progress of the project. Regarding capital, ACV has currently mobilized enough USD4.23 billion for investment, of which ACV's own capital is about USD2.43 billion and commercial loans from commercial banks are USD1.8 billion. Regarding the progress of the implementation of the No. 3 runway, the Minister stated that the Government expects the preparation time to be no more than 12 months, but the Ministry of Transport expects it to take only half the time, about 6 months. The construction time is about 12 months maximum, similar to the No. 1 runway. "Thus, after the National Assembly approves it at this session, the No. 3 runway will also be completed in 2026 and will be synchronized with phase 1, that is, by September 2, 2026 at the latest," said Minister Nguyen Van Thang.
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| Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang reports at the meeting. (Photo: DUY LINH) |
Regarding the traffic connection between Ho Chi Minh City and Long Thanh International Airport, Minister Nguyen Van Thang informed that during the process of preparing the project investment as well as during the process of establishing national plans for the transportation sector, the Ministry of Transport has also planned and is synchronously investing in the traffic system connecting the center of Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring areas to Long Thanh International Airport. Regarding roads, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway is currently being invested in and the Government is assigning VECH to carry out procedures to increase from 4 lanes to 8 lanes and 10 lanes, which is expected to be implemented and completed in 2027. In addition, the construction of Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3, expected to be completed in 2026, will help connect Ho Chi Minh City to Long Thanh, and the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway will help connect the southern area of Ho Chi Minh City, this project is also expected to be completed in 2025. The Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway will help connect the northern areas of Ho Chi Minh City. Regarding railways, Minister Nguyen Van Thang also said that there are 3 connecting railways, including the North - South high-speed railway, from Thu Thiem station to Long Thanh station. Currently, the Ministry of Transport is completing a pre-feasibility study report on the light rail line connecting Thu Thiem Station (Ho Chi Minh City) to Long Thanh Station (
Dong Nai ) to call for investment, and is expected to invest in the form of public-private partnership (PPP), with state capital participating. In addition, there is also a plan for a railway line connecting Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Thu Thiem Station.
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Source: https://nhandan.vn/du-kien-se-co-tuyen-duong-sat-nhe-ket-noi-ga-thu-thiem-va-ga-long-thanh-post845992.html
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