Supplementing mechanisms to ensure progress of North-South high-speed railway project

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai stated his opinion on the review.

Presenting the Government's report at the meeting, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh said that to ensure project progress, the Government proposed to add two special mechanisms and policies.

Accordingly, the Government proposed to separate the compensation, support, resettlement and relocation of power works with voltage of 110 kV or higher on the project into independent projects.

The advantage of this is that compensation, support, resettlement and relocation of power projects will be carried out independently, in parallel with the preparation of the feasibility study report.

In addition, central budget funds will be transferred directly to localities for implementation (applicable in cases where local budgets are not balanced).

If the above proposal is accepted, Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) will be given the authority to organize, decide on investment and implement projects related to relocating power works.

The second policy is to authorize the National Assembly Standing Committee to decide on supplementing and adjusting mechanisms and policies during the time the National Assembly is not in session to promptly implement the project.

This is because the project has a particularly large scope, scale, total investment, long implementation time, complex technology and engineering, many new fields and is being implemented for the first time in Vietnam, so it needs a different specific policy mechanism to organize implementation.

Presenting his review opinion, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee (ECFC) Phan Van Mai said that the Standing Committee of the ECF basically agrees with the political, legal and practical basis on the necessity of supplementing mechanisms and policies for the project, in line with the Party's policy on mobilizing social resources and diversifying investment forms.

Regarding the first policy, the UBKTTC finds the proposal well-founded. There is a precedent for splitting a land clearance project into component projects (for example, Resolution No. 38/2017/QH14 on the Long Thanh International Airport project). However, the UBKTTC suggests that the Government direct localities, ministries and branches to prepare a feasibility study report to ensure consistency and unity; in which the total investment, the area of recovered land and the completion progress are clearly defined.

"It is necessary to clarify the financial management mechanism, budget refund and supplement a unified monitoring mechanism between localities where the project passes through," emphasized Chairman of the Inspection Commission Phan Van Mai.

Regarding the second proposal, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's Inspection Commission found it unnecessary, because Resolution No. 172/2024/QH15 dated November 30, 2024 of the National Assembly on project investment policy stipulated that during the period when the National Assembly is not in session, the National Assembly authorizes the National Assembly Standing Committee to consider and decide.

Along with that, the Resolution of the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly approved the addition of investment forms under the Law on Investment in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) and business investment, assigning the Government to choose the investment form; in case there are other mechanisms and policies beyond the authority of the Government, it will be reported to the National Assembly for consideration and decision.

Commenting on this issue, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man agreed with the viewpoint of the review agency.

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Vu Hong Thanh stated that the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed with the recommendations submitted by the Government and will include them in the agenda of the 10th session of the National Assembly (currently underway) for the National Assembly to decide.

MR. PHUONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/bo-sung-co-che-de-dam-bao-tien-do-trien-khai-du-an-duong-sat-cao-toc-bac-nam-post826926.html