Arousing national pride to implement high-speed railway project

National Assembly delegate Duong Khac Mai said that if the budget is not enough to build a high-speed railway, then borrowing from the people is better than borrowing from abroad. This also aims to arouse national pride to contribute to national projects.

The 2035 completion date is entirely feasible.

On the afternoon of November 20, speaking at the discussion hall about the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, National Assembly delegate Le Dao An Xuan ( Phu Yen delegation) highly appreciated the project prepared by the Government and the Ministry of Transport.

Regarding the feasibility of investing in the entire route, Ms. Xuan said that, unlike the previous plan, priority was given to the two sections Hanoi - Vinh and Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang; the strip of provinces in the Central region would be invested in later.

"I completely agree with the plan to build the entire route," Ms. Xuan said, adding that with a distance of less than 800km, air exploitation will not be effective, the advantage completely belongs to high-speed rail.

Delegate Le Dao An Xuan (Phu Yen delegation).

Considering that Phu Yen and the Central provinces have identified tourism as a key economic sector, but people's travel during the tourist season is still difficult, the female delegate of Phu Yen delegation said: "If we invest in high-speed railway, we will solve all of this transportation needs."

According to the current economic scale and forecast for 2027, with the implementation progress and capital arrangement as proposed by the project, along with the strong and decisive management as in the past and experience in directing the implementation of key projects such as the North-South expressway, the 500KV line project, circuit 3..., delegate Xuan said that the completion of the North-South high-speed railway by 2035 is feasible.

"Moreover, the project is implemented with electric technology, which will be a big change to green transportation," said Ms. Xuan.

Only desk, no backrest

Delegate Ta Van Ha (Quang Nam delegation) also agreed with the investment policy of the North-South high-speed railway project with the spirit of discussing, not backtracking.

Mr. Ha believes that this is also the trend of national development, a preparation step, a strategic breakthrough for our country to enter a new era, an era of development.

Delegate Ta Van Ha (Quang Nam delegation).

Regarding the overall planning, delegate Ha suggested a balance and harmony between the types of transport: railway, air, water and road. Because currently, there are areas and strips of the Central region where almost every province has an airport.

Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the exploitation of airports, roads and waterways so that they are not wasted.

Regarding the ability to balance capital sources, the delegate said that the project is set within the overall goal of establishing the Party by 2030 to become a modern industrialized country with a high average income. With the remaining 6 years, the ability to balance capital sources to develop the economy - society, key projects, and national target programs is a difficult problem.

Delegates also emphasized the need for a truly effective implementation and exploitation plan from the technology selection stage to appropriate divergence.

"In particular, we need to pay attention to the implementation process to avoid capital increase and future losses; avoid large investments but ineffective exploitation, having to spend money to cover losses," said Mr. Ha.

Public investment does not mean the state does everything.

Delegate Duong Khac Mai (Dak Nong delegation) requested the Government to provide more information on the ability to arrange and balance capital needs for the project to assess the state budget's ability to pay and the economy's endurance.

Delegate Duong Khac Mai (Dak Nong delegation).

According to the Dak Nong delegation, the state budget still has many expenses, in addition to development expenses, there are regular expenses, annual expenses according to the medium-term plan, and expenses according to programs and projects.

Regarding implementation progress, delegates cited that urban railway routes have encountered many difficulties in recent times, leading to increased capital, causing completion time to be extended compared to the initially approved level.

Recent important national projects have also shown that, despite the application of specific policies on material mines and site clearance compensation, the supply of raw materials is still lacking, site clearance is slow, and does not meet the project's construction progress.

Therefore, delegates suggested that the Government needs to carefully study and evaluate each specific issue to find effective solutions to overcome these shortcomings in order to complete the project on schedule.

Regarding investment attraction, delegates suggested focusing on attracting domestic private investment. This would help businesses have the opportunity to grow and develop, as well as receive and transfer foreign technology, maximize localization, and reduce dependence on foreign countries.

According to delegate Mai, the project is 100% public investment but that does not mean the state does all the work. The state places orders with capable private investors in related industries.

In addition, we should attract private enterprises to invest in building terminals and other supporting services because they do very well. This has been done in the fields of aviation, road and waterway.

In mobilizing investment resources for the project, delegates suggested that it is necessary to consider mobilizing people's strength because the resources within the people are very large. If bonds are issued with an attractive enough interest rate, people will be willing to buy.

"If the budget is not enough, we should borrow, but borrowing from the people is better than borrowing from abroad because the people will enjoy the profits. More importantly, it also aims to arouse national pride to contribute to national projects," delegate Mai proposed.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/khoi-day-tinh-than-tu-hao-dan-toc-de-thuc-hien-du-an-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-192241120154835649.htm