A "boost" in mechanisms is needed for the construction of Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 4.

Budgetary funds account for more than half.

Speaking with Giao Thong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Quang Lam, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, said that the Government has just assigned the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee as the lead agency to coordinate with localities to prepare a pre-feasibility study report for the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 project, propose specific policies and mechanisms, and promptly submit it to the National Assembly at the special session at the end of 2024.

Map showing the route of Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 4.

As the coordinating agency, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has urgently coordinated with the other four provinces to review and finalize the pre-feasibility study report for the overall project and its component projects for submission to the State Appraisal Council.

At a meeting with local authorities in mid-October 2024, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan highly appreciated the efforts of the localities in researching and preparing the pre-feasibility report for the Ring Road 4 project.

As the "conductor," Ho Chi Minh City, together with other localities, has carried out many urgent tasks, proposed mechanisms and policies, and even readily accepted a portion of the route through Long An , demonstrating Ho Chi Minh City's determination and responsibility in implementing this inter-regional mega-project.

Although the project is invested under the PPP method, specifically a BOT contract, to ensure feasibility, the State will participate in capital at a certain percentage.

In the draft pre-feasibility study, localities proposed that the funding source from the State budget would account for 55.4% (equivalent to VND 75,667 billion, of which VND 42,053 billion is from the central budget and VND 33,614 billion is from the local budget). BOT funding would account for 44.6% (equivalent to VND 60,926 billion).

For the period 2021-2025, approximately 16,035 billion VND will be needed. Of this, the central government budget is expected to contribute about 7,469 billion VND, and the local government budget is expected to contribute about 8,566 billion VND (including approximately 2,400 billion VND from Ho Chi Minh City).

For the period 2026-2030, approximately 59,632 billion VND will be needed, with an estimated 34,584 billion VND from the central budget and 25,048 billion VND from local budgets (of which Ho Chi Minh City's budget accounts for approximately 8,071 billion VND).

A special mechanism is needed.

Mr. Tran Quang Lam stated that the Ring Road 4 project is currently facing numerous challenges. The most difficult is balancing the budget allocations of local authorities. Therefore, in the coming period, significant institutional impetus is needed to resolve obstacles in project implementation.

"Besides Ho Chi Minh City, which can balance its own budget, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces are proposing that the central government provide 50% of the funding for the project. Long An province, however, is proposing that the central government provide 70% of the funding," Mr. Lam said.

The total length of the section through Long An province is approximately 78.3 km. The starting point is at Thầy Cai Canal (the border between Củ Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City and Đức Hòa District, Long An Province), and the end point connects to the North-South axis at Hiệp Phước Port area, Nhà Bè District, Ho Chi Minh City. The preliminary total investment for phase 1 in Long An province is 63,967 billion VND. Long An provincial leaders have repeatedly expressed concerns about the difficulty in securing the necessary local budget funds.

According to Mr. Lam, although Ho Chi Minh City has financial resources, there is currently no mechanism allowing the locality to use budget funds to invest in the Ring Road 4 project. Furthermore, there is currently no mechanism for using the budget of one locality to support another.

Propose two options.

Drawing lessons from the Hanoi Ring Road 4 project, which makes both construction and operation very difficult if component projects are too large, local authorities proposed two options at a recent meeting.

Perspective view of Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 4.

Firstly, the section through Long An province should be divided into two component projects. The first section runs from Thầy Cai Canal (on the border between Củ Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City and Đức Hòa District, Long An Province) to the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Lương Expressway; the second section runs from the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Lương Expressway to its end point connecting with the North-South axis at Hiệp Phước Port, Nhà Bè District, Ho Chi Minh City. Dividing it into two projects will make it more feasible to attract investment through the PPP model and allocate local budget.

The second option is to allocate a portion of the Long An province component of the project to Ho Chi Minh City. This option would allow Ho Chi Minh City to proactively manage its budget for the project, easing the burden on Long An province.

Supporting the proposal to allocate a portion of the project to Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Nguyen Minh Lam, Vice Chairman of the Long An Provincial People's Committee, said: "Ho Chi Minh City can choose a section of the route to implement, and Long An province will take care of the rest."

However, according to Mr. Lam, this needs to be thoroughly researched by the consulting unit to ensure feasibility before submitting it to the Prime Minister, as well as facilitating future exploitation. This will also make the project more feasible in Long An province, allowing for parallel implementation with other provinces.

The total investment is nearly 137,000 billion VND.

According to the plan, Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 4 will have a complete four-lane expressway cross-section, with continuous emergency stopping lanes along the entire route, each 3 meters wide. There will be 21 interchanges along the route. In addition, the project will invest in the construction of parallel roads and local access roads on both sides of the route, based on traffic needs in each section and locality (sections passing through urban areas, residential areas, etc.). The estimated total investment is approximately 136,948 billion VND (with an estimated 49,902 billion VND from the central government budget and an estimated 37,028 billion VND from the local government budget).

In the pre-feasibility report, localities unanimously proposed several specific mechanisms. Specifically, they proposed allowing localities to use their own budget funds to invest in the Ring Road 4 projects (which are funded by the Central Government budget); and a mechanism for using local budgets to support other localities in carrying out public investment activities of the project (Thu Bien Bridge connecting Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, and the bridge connecting Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces). This mechanism has already been applied in the implementation of the Ring Road 3 project.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/can-cu-hich-co-che-lam-vanh-dai-4-tphcm-192241105102930822.htm