Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) - Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc) Expressway: Need to clarify capital allocation

On the afternoon of April 17, at the 32nd session, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinion on the pre-feasibility study report on the investment project to build the North-South Expressway in the West, Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) - Chon Thanh ( Binh Phuoc ) section.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai chaired the meeting.

Presenting the Government's proposal, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that according to the plan, the expressway network includes 41 routes with a total length of about 9,014km.

The country has put into operation about 1,892km of expressways, is under construction for 1,600km, and is preparing to invest in about 1,267km. Of which, the Eastern North-South expressway will be basically completed by 2025.

Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh Expressway is part of the North - South Expressway in the West. This is an important traffic axis, connecting the Central Highlands with the Southeast, Southwest and Ho Chi Minh City.

NGUYỄN VĂN THẮNG.jpeg — Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang

“Investment in the Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh expressway will solve traffic infrastructure bottlenecks, create new development space, and be a driving force for socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security in the Southeast and Central Highlands regions. The Politburo has issued a resolution on investment direction for this expressway,” said the Minister.

According to the plan, Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh Expressway has a scale of 6 lanes. The investment phase is about 128.8km long (going through Dak Nong province for 27.8km, through Binh Phuoc province for 101km), with a scale of 4 complete lanes, clearing 6 lanes at once. The total preliminary investment of this project is about 25,540 billion VND, including 12,770 billion VND of state capital and 12,770 billion VND of capital arranged by the investor.

cao toc chon thanh dak nong.jpeg — Route map of Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) – Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc) expressway project

After examination, the Economic Committee agreed on the necessity of investing in the Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh expressway project, but requested a clearer analysis of the costs of recovery, compensation, support, and resettlement, especially costs related to changing the purpose of using forests and rice fields of the project.

Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh also noted that within the examining body, there were opinions that the proposal to allocate 1,500 billion VND from the reserve fund of the medium-term public investment plan using the central budget for the period 2021 - 2025 was "not feasible".

According to the provisions of the 2019 Law on Public Investment, the planned capital for public investment in the 2021-2025 period can only be implemented until January 31, 2026. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. "The Government is requested to clarify the allocation of capital to implement the project in 2026," said the head of the Economic Committee.

In addition, the capital arranged by the investor accounts for 50% of the total preliminary investment of the project. The Government needs to closely coordinate with interested investors in arranging capital for the project, avoiding having to adjust the project investment policy from investment under the public-private partnership method to public investment.

Speaking on this issue, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that the project is of great significance. Previously, the project was proposed by National Assembly deputies and delegations of National Assembly deputies.

The National Assembly Chairman affirmed the necessity and expressed support for the investment policy of this project because the project has strategic significance in connecting the Central Highlands region with the Southeast region, creating development conditions for localities in the region.

The National Assembly Chairman said that the Government and the National Assembly Standing Committee both wanted the project to be submitted sooner. However, to ensure thorough preparation and to meet the requirements, the agencies have only now completed the documents for submission.

The National Assembly Chairman requested that the agencies receive the opinions of the examining agency and the opinions at the meeting to continue completing the dossier, supplement the report of the State Audit's opinions to complete the dossier submitted to the National Assembly.

MR. PHUONG

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