Need to clarify responsibility for handing over land for high-speed railway

It is expected that tomorrow (November 30), the National Assembly will vote to approve the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project.

Talking to Giao Thong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien, former Head of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Group, said that the necessity of the project is clear to everyone, the most important thing is how to implement it effectively. In particular, the site clearance stage is very important, and the site clearance must not be delayed.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien.

Achieving high consensus

Through the opinions in the parliament as well as the explanation of the Government representative, do you think the National Assembly has sufficient data and basis to approve the project policy?

Following the National Assembly's agenda, it can be seen that the time allotted for the high-speed railway investment policy is relatively sufficient. After listening to the Government's report and the review report, the delegates discussed in groups and in the hall. After that, the Government representative explained further. Currently, anyone who wants to learn about this project has full access.

It can be seen that basically all opinions agree on the necessity of implementing the project, no opinion doubts that the project is not feasible or cannot be implemented due to lack of resources. I believe that, with full data and basis, the National Assembly will vote to approve it.

If the resolution is passed, the project will start in 2027, a period of 2 years is not much. So from now until then, what do we need to prepare, sir?

Actually it's not 2 years, we've had 14 years of preparation. The first presentation was in 2010, then in 2014 we did it again, and now we're doing it again.

That is, the time to prepare the pre-feasibility report is relatively long, enough to prepare the feasibility study report. Up to now, we have 2 years of feasibility study, identifying the problems that need to be solved.

Attach responsibility for site clearance

For large projects up to now, the issue of site clearance has always been considered the most difficult. In your opinion, with this project, is the special mechanism mentioned in the National Assembly resolution strong enough to avoid repeating the story of site clearance delay?

The delay in site clearance as in previous projects, frankly speaking, is mainly due to the fact that the local authorities have not fulfilled their responsibilities. That is why people are arguing about compensation prices, leading to difficulties in site clearance.

If approved by the National Assembly, the North-South high-speed railway project is expected to start construction in 2027 and be basically completed in 2035. Illustration: Quoc Tuan.

When clearing land, we often say that we must create conditions for people to move to a new place that is better than their old place, but we do not give evaluation criteria. What is better than their old place? If we are not specific, what if the local authority says it is better but the people say it is not better? That is what has failed to create consensus.

In principle, local authorities must be proactive in creating clean land funds to prepare for national infrastructure projects. This time, that principle needs to be seriously implemented. We cannot wait until the project has been implemented for a long time but the land is still nowhere to be seen. Slow progress and capital increase are also the causes.

It seems that I have not seen any high-ranking local leader removed from office for failing to fulfill his responsibilities, and no collective has been criticized for failing to complete its tasks by failing to prepare clean land for socio-economic development.

For a long time, the decentralization and delegation of authority have not been clear, so in the end, the responsibilities have been general. Therefore, this time must be different, the tasks must be assigned specifically and responsibilities must be clear.

Mobilizing resources for investment is one of the issues that National Assembly deputies have contributed many opinions on in the parliament. In your opinion, how should the mobilization be done and what mechanisms and policies are needed? If issuing Government Bonds, what should the interest rate be?

In terms of macro balance, there are many criteria for us to be able to take care of capital sources. With the figures on budget deficit, public debt, and annual GDP, resource mobilization is not a big problem.

The project will be implemented over many years and will not be completed until 2035. How should inflation and depreciation factors be calculated, sir?

Of course, inflation and depreciation must be taken into account. Because with the long construction period and economic impacts, especially in the world, forecasts are just forecasts, no one can be sure of anything.

In all economic calculations, there is always a 10% reserve, but if it exceeds this level due to objective conditions, we have to accept it.

Master technology to avoid dependence

This is the largest project in the history of public investment in terms of both scale and complexity, unprecedented. In your opinion, what should be noted during the implementation process?

Currently, the feasibility report is not available yet, the comments are just initial and cannot be specific, from the total investment, technology, human resources, land area recovered. In other words, it is still under discussion, we have to wait until the feasibility report to clarify the above issues.

However, there is an important factor that we must master technology, otherwise we will be very dependent. There are two clear lessons: the Cat Linh - Ha Dong and Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro lines. I believe that the authorities have carefully studied these issues.

Many people believe that we must master the technology of construction, maintenance, and repair… If we depend on foreign countries, it will be very complicated in the future. So, in your opinion, how should we master and request technology transfer?

Foreign technology, the problem is choosing which technology can be transferred and which we can operate.

For example, we cannot make the engine for the train at the moment. Maybe we cannot transfer it right away. The problem is what technology we can access and what our capabilities are. I think these issues will be clarified in the upcoming feasibility report.

Thank you!

Delegate Nguyen Minh Hoang (HCMC):

Need to master technology

I completely agree with the contents that the Government reported to the National Assembly.

For projects with large total investment and large scale, public investment is the most sustainable form of guarantee. From now on, we request the Government and relevant agencies to make detailed plans on the use of financial resources.

There is an issue that I, as well as many other delegates, are very concerned about, which is that we must master part or all of the technology related to high-speed railways. Partially means following international experience, but complete mastery takes time, through many stages.

I also agree with the proposal to mobilize capital contributions from the people to participate in the project, possibly in the form of buying bonds with reasonable interest rates.

Delegate Nguyen Van Than (Economic Committee of the National Assembly):

Mobilizing maximum capital resources from the people

To implement the project quickly and effectively, I suggest we should prioritize private participation.

If we prioritize the private sector, we can save a lot, because the level of Vietnamese enterprises is now different from before. If we set out the task specifically and clearly, I think Vietnamese enterprises are capable of doing it.

Currently, the capital source from the people is very large. A few years ago, during the 14th National Assembly term, when talking about Long Thanh International Airport, I mentioned this issue and currently, private enterprises are very good at mobilizing capital from the people, in accordance with the law, through corporate bonds and real estate projects.

We can mobilize capital for the project from the people with attractive interest rates. I suggest trying to minimize foreign capital and mobilize capital from the people as much as possible.

Delegate Mai Van Hai (Economic Committee of the National Assembly):

Anticipate challenges to respond

Investing in high-speed railway development will create many opportunities, both promoting economic growth, creating jobs in the short term and creating new development space in the long term.

In recent times, the implementation of a number of key national projects has demonstrated great political determination and drastic innovation in implementation. Since then, many projects have been completed, bringing about clear results. Successful experiences from major projects need to be promoted and thoroughly applied when building high-speed railways.

However, this is an unprecedented project, with a complex scale and a long expected implementation time. Therefore, we cannot imagine all the difficulties and challenges that will be encountered. Anticipating difficulties and having appropriate solutions is very important.

Phung Do - Trang Tran (recorded)

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/can-ro-trach-nhiem-giao-mat-bang-lam-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-192241129001838965.htm