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| Mai Son Expressway - National Highway 45. Photo: Duc Thanh |
Divergence in 2 phases
More than a month after receiving instructions from Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, last week, the Vietnam Expressway Investment and Development Corporation (VEC) submitted Document No. 1999/BC-VEC-HĐTV to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction , reporting on the investment plan for upgrading and expanding sections of the North-South Expressway in the East.
It should be added that, in Notice No. 266/TB-VPCP dated May 27, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha directed VEC to urgently and proactively propose a plan (either VEC leading entirely or VEC cooperating with domestic state-owned and private enterprises, proposing accompanying mechanisms and policies) for investing in upgrading and expanding the sections of the North-South Expressway in the East, and submit it to the Ministry of Construction by June 2, 2025; the Ministry of Construction will organize an evaluation and comparison of the options to propose the most effective plan to the Prime Minister.
In Notice No. 323/TB-VPCP dated June 26, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha further instructed the Ministry of Finance to direct VEC to study two investment options as recommended by the Ministry of Construction, clarifying its financial capacity, experience, and ability to mobilize capital, and submit them to the Ministry of Construction for compilation before June 27, 2025.
Previously, the Ministry of Construction proposed two investment options for expanding 15 component projects using public investment capital under the Project for Investment in some sections of the North-South Expressway in the East, giai đoạn 2017-2020, and the Project for Investment in the North-South Expressway in the East, giai đoạn 2017-2020.
Under Option 1, the Ministry of Construction would consolidate the Eastern North-South Expressway routes into a single investment project (comprising 15 expressways), with a total length of approximately 966 km and a total investment of approximately 128,292 billion VND (excluding interest on loans during the construction period).
Under Option 2, the Ministry of Construction proposes splitting the project into two separate projects (one project per region). Project 1 comprises eight sub-projects from Mai Son to Cam Lo, with a total length of approximately 415 km and a total investment of approximately VND 54,182 billion (excluding interest during construction); Project 2 comprises seven sub-projects from Quang Ngai to Dau Giay, with a total length of approximately 551 km and a total investment of VND 74,110 billion (excluding interest during construction).
In Document No. 1999/BC-VEC-HĐTV, Mr. Truong Viet Dong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VEC, stated that, following the direction of the Government leaders, VEC has urgently worked with the State Capital Investment and Business Corporation (SCIC) and a number of enterprises currently constructing on the route, which have demonstrated credibility, quality, and efficiency, to study investment cooperation for the two options proposed by the Ministry of Construction.
The principle set by VEC for expanding the 15 component projects of the North-South Expressway in the East is to avoid situations where completed projects have to be demolished for expansion, causing waste and creating negative public opinion while resources are limited; some connecting routes to the expressway and major economic centers need priority investment, reducing the burden on the state budget so that resources can be focused on investing in some important projects such as the North-South high-speed railway.
Based on an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the two options, VEC proposes to invest in expanding the eastern sections of the North-South Expressway according to Option 2.
However, to match the capacity, experience, equity participation, and ability to mobilize capital from credit institutions for the expansion of the North-South East Expressway; to ensure synchronous and continuous project implementation; to facilitate construction work, meet transportation needs, and avoid legal conflicts with contractors currently performing warranty work on the expressways, VEC proposes phasing the investment under Option 2 into two stages.
Specifically, Phase I, which will be implemented and expanded starting in 2026, corresponding to the end of the warranty period for the contractors of the previous phase (around June 2026), includes 3 component projects in the North: Mai Son - National Highway 45, National Highway 45 - Nghi Son, Nghi Son - Dien Chau, with a total length of approximately 156 km and a total investment of approximately VND 19,523 billion ( thuộc Project 1); and 2 component projects in the South: Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet, Phan Thiet - Dau Giay, with a total length of approximately 200 km and a total investment of approximately VND 17,843 billion ( thuộc Project 2).
In Phase II, VEC proposes to implement expansion investment after the warranty period of the previous phase contractors ends (after 2028) and when the traffic volume of the expressway sections reaches its capacity, with a scale of 4 lanes for the remaining 10 component expressway projects, with a total length of 610 km and a total investment of VND 90,926 billion.
Define roles
In Document No. 1999/BC-VEC-HĐTV, VEC proposed that the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Finance consider reporting on and coordinating with SCIC and other investors to study the expansion of Project 1 of the North-South Expressway (Eastern section), with a total investment of approximately VND 61,738 billion (including interest on loans during the construction period of VND 7,556 billion) and implementing phased investment.
Accordingly, in Phase I (investment implementation period 2026 - 2028), VEC will coordinate the investment in expanding 3 expressways from Mai Son to Dien Chau under Project 1 with a length of 156 km, a total investment of approximately 22,243 billion VND, and a payback period of 12 years.
In Phase II, VEC invested in expanding the expressways from Bai Vot to Cam Lo under Project 1 (comprising 5 expressways): Bai Vot - Ham Nghi, Ham Nghi - Vung Ang, Vung Ang - Bung, Bung - Van Ninh, and Van Ninh - Cam Lo, with a total length of approximately 259 km, a total investment of VND 39,495 billion, and a payback period of 18 years.
For Project 2, VEC proposes that the Government assign the investment to other investors with sufficient capacity and experience to ensure rational resource allocation and avoid scattered investments.
In the event that it is assigned to research and invest in the expansion of Project 1 as mentioned above, VEC proposes that the Government allow VEC to retain the remaining profits from the 2025-2030 period (approximately VND 4,769 billion) to supplement its equity capital for participating in the expansion of Project 1.
Furthermore, immediately after being authorized to invest in expanding projects (after selecting investors), VEC proposes that the competent authority allow the project enterprise to collect tolls directly on the expressways that have already been invested in with public investment funds in the previous phase, at a rate equivalent to the tolls currently collected by PPP project enterprises on other expressways, in order to minimize the amount of state budget support for the project.
Reportedly, the proposed plan is being assessed as suitable and feasible by several investors, including those who previously submitted proposals to expand the North-South Expressway as independent investors. They are ready to cooperate with VEC to implement Project 1 immediately after it is approved by the competent authorities.
Mr. Truong Viet Dong stated that, with experience as the investor of 7 expressway projects, including 4 projects that have already been put into operation and are collecting tolls, VEC has sufficient capacity in investment management and operation when assigned by the Prime Minister to invest in expanding the North-South expressway in the East using the PPP method.
Furthermore, with a charter capital of approximately VND 39,366 billion, according to current regulations, VEC is allowed to raise capital for production and business activities up to three times its equity capital, corresponding to a potential capital mobilization of up to VND 118,098 billion. This charter capital size enables VEC to meet the capital mobilization requirements for participating in the expansion of the Eastern North-South Expressway.
It should be added that, for Project 2, the Ministry of Construction has received several proposals from a number of major domestic investors. Most notably, Son Hai Group proposed expanding the existing 679 km section of the North-South Expressway in the East, from Quang Ngai to Dau Giay (Dong Nai), from 4 lanes to 6 lanes, using a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
“We are committed to securing all the necessary funding ourselves (including equity and legally raised capital), without using government budget funds; the construction time will not exceed 24 months, and we will provide a 10-year warranty,” said Mr. Nguyen Viet Hai, Chairman of Son Hai Group.
The North-South Expressway Eastern section investment project for the period 2017-2020 comprises 11 component projects (8 public investment projects and 3 PPP investment projects) with a total length of 654 km. The project has been completed and put into operation with a scale of 2-4 lanes and land clearance for 4-6 lanes. Specifically, the Cao Bo - Mai Son section is currently being expanded from 4 lanes to 6 lanes (expected to be completed in 2026), and the Cam Lo - La Son section is being expanded from 2 lanes to 4 lanes (expected to be completed in 2026).
The North-South Expressway Eastern section investment project for the 2017-2020 period comprises 12 component projects (public investment) with a total length of 721 km, a limited scale of 4 lanes, and land acquisition for 4-6 lanes. These component projects have been and are being implemented, with expected completion by the end of 2025 (4 projects) and 2026 (8 projects).
The BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) projects (total length 234 km) include the Huu Nghi Border Gate - Chi Lang section, currently under construction with 4 lanes (expected to be completed in 2026); the Hanoi - Bac Ninh - Bac Giang section, currently operating with 4 lanes; the Bac Giang - Lang Son section, currently operating with 4 lanes; the Phap Van - Cau Gie section, currently operating with 6 lanes; and the Trung Luong - My Thuan section, currently operating with 4 lanes, with a decision on investment to expand it to 6 lanes.
The expressways that VEC has invested in and is currently investing in (total length 295 km), with a standard 4-lane scale, include Cau Gie - Ninh Binh, Da Nang - Quang Ngai, Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay, and Ben Luc - Long Thanh.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/nga-re-moi-cho-phuong-an-mo-rong-cao-toc-bac---nam-phia-dong-d326335.html
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