Flooding concerns progress of Long Thanh International Airport Component 4 Project

The implementation of Component Project 4 is progressing very slowly, there is no bidding plan to select a feasible investor, leading to the risk of not completing the overall progress of Long Thanh Airport on time.

Construction of Long Thanh International Airport terminal.

The Government Office has just issued Notice No. 306/TB – VPCP announcing the Conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the meeting of the Working Group on the Investment Project for Construction of Long Thanh International Airport Phase 1.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, currently, important construction items of the Project under Component Project 2 and Component Project 3 invested by Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation - VATM and Vietnam Airports Corporation - ACV are being constructed according to and ahead of schedule according to the contract.

However, some works under Component Project 1 under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have not been allocated capital and have not been bid for contractor selection. In particular, Component Project 4 is being implemented very slowly, there is no feasible bidding plan for investor selection, leading to the risk of not completing on schedule, affecting the operation of the airport, causing waste of investment costs.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Component Project 4 includes very important works of the airport, directly related to technical safety and operation, ensuring the right scale and role of the international airport. In particular, the investment in the aircraft maintenance and repair center must meet the requirements of technology, capacity, and management according to international standards.

Recently, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the Working Group have given many specific instructions to resolve the difficulties of Component Project 4. However, up to now, the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam have not yet had a feasible solution to select investors.

“The main reason is due to the limited capacity and experience of the staff; the lack of strict discipline in implementing the conclusions of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister,” the Deputy Prime Minister assessed and stated that the Ministry of Transport bears full responsibility for the slow implementation of Component 4 Project, affecting the general operation of the airport and the investment efficiency of the Project.

The working group agreed to assign the Ministry of Transport to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to report to the Government at the nearest meeting on the implementation of Component Project 4, clarify difficulties and obstacles and propose specific feasible solutions for implementation; including recommending solutions to select international consultants with capacity and experience in large international airport projects in the world to advise on the overall design and select investors for works under Component Project 4.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the selection of international consultants needs to make maximum use of legal provisions on bidding, ensuring transparency and efficiency.

In Notice No. 306, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Transport in the process of selecting international consultants, developing bidding documents to select investors, evaluating bidding documents, etc., and preparing reports to the Government.

The State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises directed ACV to consider using appropriate international consultants to support or coordinate the work of the overall consultant of Component Project 4 to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of the entire Project.

Regarding the selection of investors for works under Component Project 4, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that the bidding work be completed in July 2024.

In addition, the selection of investors for Component Project 4 needs to provide criteria for dividing the production and business efficiency of investors according to a ratio appropriate to the scale and level of development of the airport through the stages.

In particular, investors providing aircraft repair and maintenance services must have international investment experience (prioritizing capacity, experience, management and paying attention to the overall nature of the project). The development of criteria for evaluating and selecting investors should refer to data, survey the investment and business efficiency of investors at a number of major international airports; refer to ACV's experience in selecting contractors.

For the items: cargo terminal No. 2, express cargo terminal, cargo warehouse (logistics area), airport hotel, airport city, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Transport to review the approved investment projects, agree with the State Capital Management Committee at enterprises on assigning ACV to preside over the investment implementation, and report to competent authorities.

The Ministry of Transport was assigned to urgently prepare a report to the Prime Minister on the overall progress of the project, noting the progress of the commencement and completion of the investors of Component Project 1 (headquarters of state agencies); the transfer of some work items to ACV.

In particular, the Ministry of Transport must immediately propose the order and procedures for transfer, including adjusting the Prime Minister's decision to approve the project (if necessary), urgently completing before July 15, 2024; the causes and responsibilities for the delay in implementing Component Project 4, urgently proposing feasible solutions to immediately implement the following work contents.

“ACV sends competent and experienced staff in bidding to support the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam in organizing bidding to select investors; promptly receive and immediately implement the contents and work items of Component Project 4 transferred by the Ministry of Transport,” the Deputy Prime Minister directed.

Previously, the Ministry of Transport issued Document No. 9664/BGTVT-KHĐT dated September 16, 2021 approving the list of priority investment projects of Component Project 4 of the Long Thanh International Airport Construction Investment Project Phase 1 and the Minister of Transport approved the list of projects including: Investment project for construction and exploitation of ground service vehicle maintenance and aircraft cleaning areas No. 1 and No. 2; Investment project for construction of on-board catering areas No. 1 and No. 2; Investment project for construction of Operation Centers of airlines No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3; Investment project for construction of aircraft maintenance areas No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4.

The above projects must be completed together with the progress of Component Project 3, Long Thanh International Airport (September 2024) to ensure the new airport operates synchronously and smoothly, ensuring investment efficiency.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/lo-lut-tien-do-du-an-thanh-phan-4-cang-hang-khong-quoc-te-long-thanh-d219724.html