Meeting on investment in the North-South high-speed railway project - Photo: VGP
At a recent meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh on the North-South high-speed railway project, investors had direct dialogue with the Government and ministries about the possibility of participating in the project.
Present businesses include: Vietnam 3000 Company Limited - Vietnam Investment and Development Group, Discovery Group Joint Stock Company, Vietnam Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company ( THACO ), Vinspeed High-speed Railway Investment and Development Joint Stock Company.
A company with 67 employees declared not to borrow state capital.
According to Tuoi Tre 's research, Discovery Group Joint Stock Company was established in March 2016, with a charter capital of 260 billion VND. The founding shareholder structure includes Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh with 37.7% of contributed capital, Mr. Nguyen Tien Thieu (10.8%), Discovery Vietnam Investment Joint Stock Company (14.6%) and Danko Investment and Tourism Joint Stock Company (36.9%).
The original legal representative was Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh. After many changes, the current chairman is Mr. Nguyen Nam Thieu.
Regarding the field of operation, information on the company's official website shows that this unit participates in a variety of industries, including semiconductors, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, as well as petroleum trading and mineral exploitation.
Discovery, when proposing to invest in the high-speed railway project, affirmed that it would meet the optimal technical specifications required by the Government. The proposed investment capital was only 63 billion USD, instead of 67 billion USD.
Regarding progress, the company said it will implement the project in 6 years of construction (plus 1 year of preparation), ensuring the project is put into commercial operation quickly. The project will be operated for 69 years, after which all assets and technology will be handed over to the state.
Discovery also pledged not to incur public debt. The company "borrows and pays itself", finances are mobilized through international cooperation, does not incur public debt, and does not use loans from the state budget.
At the Government meeting, Mr. Nguyen Nam Thieu, Chairman of Discovery, affirmed that this is a large and very difficult project, but it brings great value to society, so he expressed his goodwill to participate with a business plan to recover capital.
However, the company only has about 70 employees and a total capital of about 2,000-3,000 billion VND, which is only about 0.2% of the total investment of the project (67 billion USD).
Question mark about financial capacity of Vietnam 3000 Company Limited
The next name proposed to do the super high-speed railway project is Vietnam 3000 Company Limited - Vietnam Investment and Development Group. This enterprise was established in December 2020, in Hanoi.
The main business line according to Vietnam Business Registration Certificate 3000 is "wholesale of food". In addition, it is registered to operate in the construction sector, including railway and housing construction.
The charter capital of Vietnam 3000 is 369 billion VND, with Ms. Ngo Thi Thang as director and legal representative. Notably, in the self-introduction, this enterprise said that they were established to implement part of the "World 3000" program in Vietnam, a program for world economic development and human rights.
Representative of Vietnam 3000 Company Limited speaking at the meeting - Photo: VGP
Although wishing to cooperate in investing in the project in the form of public-private partnership, when asked about the company's financial capacity and if cooperating in the form of public-private partnership, what proportion of capital the enterprise will contribute; the capacity and legal basis, the basis for the enterprise to mobilize capital..., the representative of this enterprise could not answer, some answers were not in accordance with the content of the question.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Construction commented that the enterprise's profile did not have documents clearly proving its financial capacity, and the progress proposals were also very "vague". The State Bank requested that the enterprise specifically disclose the financial resources of the "ecosystem" that the enterprise mentioned, instead of general promises about "bringing 100% of capital to Vietnam".
What are the investment plans of the two "big guys"?
Contrary to the rather general information about the financial capacity of the above enterprises, the two enterprises Thaco and Vingroup have shown more clearly through their operations and reputation in the market over many years.
In particular, THACO affirmed that with the capital, they will be responsible for 20% of the investment capital, 80% will be mobilized and borrowed. In addition to their own capital, THACO will establish companies to mobilize investment capital from domestic and international enterprises and corporations. The total construction and completion time of the entire route is 7 years.
According to the financial report, Truong Hai's equity at the end of December 2025 was 52,450 billion VND. On the other side of the balance sheet, the debt payable was more than 117,355 billion VND.
Meanwhile, Vingroup representatives wish to invest in the project in the form of business investment with the total expected project investment of over 61 billion USD (excluding site clearance costs) with a project construction period of 5 years from the date the state allocates clean land for the project.
This group proposed to borrow 80% of the project investment capital and repay it within 30 years, committing to accept some business risks to generate capital, increase capital...
According to the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister's assessment at the working session, there were enterprises at this meeting who worked very seriously, their reports were prepared very carefully and elaborately, but there were also enterprises whose reports were sketchy and their ideas were unclear; there were enterprises with only 70 employees and a total capital of about 2,000-3,000 billion VND, which could not meet the requirements of the project.
He emphasized that this is not a contest to select and decide on investors, but based on existing documents and information from businesses, he suggested that the Ministry of Construction preside over relevant parties to complete a report proposing investment methods and accompanying policy mechanisms to submit to the Government for consideration and comments.
This will be an important basis for the Government to discuss and evaluate before reporting to competent authorities for consideration and decision. The viewpoint is to consider impartially, objectively, transparently, openly, "without any hidden agenda" and to discuss frankly and openly.
Mekolor Chairman: We still want to participate
As for the Mekolor and Great (USA) Investor Alliance, this unit did not participate in the meeting. However, speaking with Tuoi Tre this morning, November 28, Mr. Vo Xuan Truong, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Mekolor Joint Stock Company, affirmed that he still wanted to participate in the project.
When questioned about the company's potential when the registered capital is only 1 billion VND, Mr. Truong still said that number does not represent the real financial capacity of the company.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/do-nang-luc-doanh-nghiep-de-xuat-lam-duong-sat-cao-toc-bac-nam-67-ti-usd-nhieu-bat-ngo-20251128165930294.htm
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