The "offspring" of a powerful private corporation
VinSpeed is a business belonging to the ecosystem of Vingroup Corporation - one of the largest private corporations in Vietnam, owning a multi-industry ecosystem spanning many fields such as real estate, electric vehicles, tourism - resorts, healthcare... Recently, the corporation continues to expand into new fields such as renewable energy, robots and high-speed railways.
In 2024, Vingroup will record net revenue of VND 189,068 billion and profit after tax of VND 5,276 billion. As of March 31, 2025, Vingroup's total assets will reach VND 823,270 billion.
According to experts, VinSpeed has enough capacity to implement the North-South high-speed railway.
On the stock market, the Vingroup ecosystem has 6 listed companies including: Vingroup (HoSE: VIC), Vinhomes (HoSE: VHM), Vinpearl (HoSE: VPL), Vincom Retail (HoSE: VRE), Vietnam Exhibition Fair Center Joint Stock Company (UPCoM: VEF) and Vietnam Book Joint Stock Company (UPCoM: VNB).
In addition, VinFast - a member company of Vingroup currently listed on Nasdaq (USA) also has a capitalization of more than 8.4 billion USD (equivalent to 217,741 billion VND).
For VinSpeed, the unit registered to invest in the North-South high-speed railway project, has a charter capital of 6,000 billion VND. Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong - Chairman of Vingroup, the richest person in Vietnam according to Forbes' ranking - is the largest shareholder of VinSpeed.
The special thing about the capital contribution structure at VinSpeed is the presence of all three levels: billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong himself, his family and legal entities in the Vingroup ecosystem. Specifically, Mr. Vuong contributed up to 3,060 billion VND, accounting for 51% of the shares. His two sons each contributed 30 billion VND, accounting for 0.5% of the shares. Mr. Vuong's sister-in-law, Ms. Pham Thuy Hang, contributed 3%.
Meanwhile, Vingroup Corporation contributed 600 billion VND (10%), while Vietnam Investment Group Corporation, a legal entity closely related to Vingroup, holds the remaining 35% of shares.
The establishment of VinSpeed demonstrates Mr. Vuong’s commitment to investing in key national infrastructure projects. With 51% of shares, Mr. Vuong holds an absolute role in all strategic decisions.
Evaluating VinSpeed, Dr. Le Xuan Nghia said that although it is a new name, behind VinSpeed is billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong with a large multi-industry ecosystem, so it can be said that VinSpeed is also guaranteed by Vingroup.
The expert also particularly emphasized the implementation capacity of the enterprises run by Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong, which has been proven through a series of large infrastructure projects - from the VinFast automobile factory built in 21 months to the Ring Road 2 ahead of schedule, or the national-scale exhibition center constructed in just 10 months...
“ Before VinFast, few people believed that Vietnamese people could make cars, but now they are the best-selling car company in the market with a current localization rate of nearly 70%. I believe VinSpeed also has that “miraculous gene code ”, Dr. Le Xuan Nghia cited.
According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy - CEO of the Faculty of Finance and Banking (Nguyen Trai University), the fact that a private enterprise like VinSpeed wants to participate in the North-South high-speed railway is in line with the policy of encouraging private enterprises to boldly participate in leading fields.
In addition, the harmonious combination of prestigious and potential private economic groups and the design of an international cooperative investment ecosystem also requires the coordination of many components to improve implementation capacity and complement each other for the benefit of the nation and people.
" VinSpeed's proposal demonstrates the proactive spirit of domestic enterprises participating in national symbolic projects - a positive signal of potential and development aspirations ," Mr. Huy emphasized.
Financial plan for "super project"
The North-South high-speed railway project has an investment capital of about VND1,562 trillion (equivalent to about USD61.35 billion), excluding compensation costs, relocation support, and resettlement for site clearance.
Vingroup is one of the largest private corporations in Vietnam.
Of which, VinSpeed proposed to be responsible for arranging 20% of the total investment capital of the project, equivalent to 312.33 trillion VND (about 12.27 billion USD).
For the remaining 80% (excluding compensation costs, relocation support, and resettlement for site clearance), VinSpeed proposes to borrow State capital without interest within 35 years from the date of disbursement.
Speaking more clearly about this plan, Ms. Dao Thuy Van - Deputy General Director of VinSpeed High-Speed Railway Investment and Development Joint Stock Company said that according to VinSpeed's proposal, the State only provides loans and does not invest capital.
The plan approved in November 2024 shows that the State will invest 61.35 billion USD, excluding compensation costs, relocation support, and resettlement to clear the land, with a payback period that, according to leading experts in this field, could be up to 70 years.
VinSpeed's plan is that the State will lend VinSpeed 80%, equivalent to 1,249.6 trillion VND (about 49.08 billion USD) for 35 years without interest, the remaining 20%, equivalent to about 312,330 billion VND, about 12.27 billion USD, VinSpeed will proactively borrow and bear interest.
Thus, VinSpeed proactively “shoulders” 20% of the total investment capital for the State and bears all the interest on that amount, and will repay the entire loan to the State after 35 years. Basically, the State does not have to invest capital in this project.
Regarding payback period, according to VinSpeed's research, 98% of high-speed railways in the world are losing money, only 2% are profitable. In particular, according to experts, after about 30 years of operation, tens of billions of USD will have to be reinvested for maintenance and upgrading. If assigned to VinSpeed, the state budget will not have to bear these financial pressures.
Evaluating this financial plan, Associate Professor Dr. Hoang Van Cuong, former Vice President of the National Economics University, commented: The State should have spent the entire investment budget and not thought about when to recover the capital, but now private investors temporarily borrow that amount of money, then pay it back.
“ In terms of budget finance, this option is more beneficial for the budget. This is the state’s support for private enterprises so that they can do the work that the state has to do, ” said Mr. Cuong.
According to Mr. Cuong, we need to encourage and promote the private economy to join hands with the State to undertake development programs and goals, and cannot continue to use public investment forever.
However, Mr. Cuong noted that the North-South high-speed railway is an important infrastructure, so even if it is a private investment, it must still comply with the State's requirements. Private investors must base themselves on the principle of localization and development of the railway industry. Once the investment is completed, the exploitation and operation must also comply with the State's orientation and principles, such as the railway line that solves logistics bottlenecks, it must comply, it cannot be completed but the efficiency is not high, so it is no longer operated.
According to experts, the financial solution proposed by VinSpeed is a solution that balances state interests and business motivation. Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien said: " It is impossible to ask private enterprises to do everything, but there is no reasonable risk-sharing mechanism ," he added.
" Handing over to the private sector with specific mechanisms, including preferential loans, if accompanied by transparent control mechanisms and progress constraints... is necessary to promote a strategic development step for both Vietnam's infrastructure and industry, " Mr. Thien emphasized.
Sharing the same view, Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, Director of ANVI Law Firm, stated that the 0% interest loan is not a preferential treatment or to "save" businesses, but to implement an infrastructure project that the State should have fully invested in.
" Mobilizing the private sector, even when incentives are needed, is to share the investment burden, speed up progress and increase governance efficiency," said Mr. Duc.
According to him, this is not simply a traffic project, but a driving force for comprehensive socio-economic development. The State can completely consider those spillover benefits as an indirect contribution to the total investment.
Vingroup Corporation - Joint Stock Company (VIC) has just announced the registration of insider transactions. Specifically, Chairman of the Board of Directors Pham Nhat Vuong registered to transfer ownership of more than 48 million VIC shares, equivalent to 1.24% of Vingroup's capital, to contribute capital to VinSpeed.
The transaction will be carried out by transferring ownership through the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC) from June 5 to July 4.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/de-xuat-lam-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-tai-sao-nen-chon-vinspeed-ar946108.html
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