Billion-dollar projects in Ho Chi Minh City about to be submitted to the Central Government

(Dan Tri) - At the National Assembly session this October, Ho Chi Minh City will present a series of projects with investment amounts of up to billions of USD, which are strategic in the city's infrastructure and economic development.

These are all projects that have been carefully prepared for many years, not only demonstrating the long-term vision of Ho Chi Minh City but also meeting the urgent needs of the people and businesses. The National Assembly's consideration and approval of these investment policies will be a strong boost, helping the city gradually complete its infrastructure framework, opening up opportunities to unleash the development momentum of its leading position.

"Giant" bypass

One of the projects prioritized by Ho Chi Minh City, and if there is a lack of funding, will be willing to cut some projects that are not really necessary to implement, is Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4, with a total investment of about 136,000 billion VND (about 5.4 billion USD). Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 has the infrastructure capacity for the entire southern key economic region. When formed, the route will play a role in connecting inter-regional urban areas. This will also be a giant "bypass" axis so that provinces in the key region can connect with each other without having to go through Ho Chi Minh City's inner city. In early October, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said that the Ministry had agreed with localities on the scale, investment phases, technical standards and related items.

Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 4 passes through the Cu Chi eco-tourism area. This area is quite sparsely populated (Photo: Hai Long).

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said that the agencies will propose specific policies to be included in the resolution approving the investment policy of the National Assembly, such as: Using this local budget to support another locality, or performing expenditure tasks from the central budget; the proportion of State capital participating in the project; local planning adjustments; designating contractors for a number of bidding packages on technical consultancy, relocation of technical infrastructure, compensation, resettlement... Thereby, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha also requested Ho Chi Minh City to urgently coordinate with localities to complete the pre-feasibility study report of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 construction investment project under the form of public-private partnership (PPP), and submit the dossier to the State Appraisal Council in November. Localities continue to prepare investment steps as soon as possible, including a plan to balance local budgets for the project. The total length of the entire Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 is expected to be more than 206km, of which Ba Ria - Vung Tau is 18.23km; Binh Duong is 47.95km; Ho Chi Minh City is 16.7km; Long An is 78.3km. Phase 1 will carry out one-time site clearance according to the approved plan (74.5m); 4 complete expressway lanes; 21 interconnecting intersections; construction of parallel roads and residential roads on both sides of the route according to the traffic needs of each section and each locality.

Urban railway "backbone" network

For a megacity of more than 10 million people like Ho Chi Minh City, a complete urban railway system is considered a sustainable solution to solve the traffic pressure of Ho Chi Minh City over the past decades. To complete the urban railway network according to the plan by 2035, Ho Chi Minh City needs about VND835,000 billion (34 billion USD) for 183km of metro. After that, the city will expand another 168km in 2045. By 2060, the city's metro system will be completed with a total length of more than 510km. Thus, from 2036 to 2045, Ho Chi Minh City needs VND627,620 billion (26.1 billion USD) and from 2046 to 2060 it is VND973,714 billion (40.6 billion USD).

Ho Chi Minh City's first urban railway line will officially operate in December (Photo: Nam Anh).

During the working session between the National Assembly Party Delegation and the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee chaired by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man on October 5, Ho Chi Minh City proposed that the National Assembly allocate about 25.6% of capital from the central budget to support the city in the period up to 2035, the rest will be implemented by the local budget. The city also proposed that the National Assembly pass a policy framework to implement metro projects, without having to approve each project separately, to ensure flexibility. Ho Chi Minh City also proposed that the National Assembly delegate authority to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council to decide on investment policies and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to decide on investment in projects if capital is mobilized entirely from the local budget, helping the city speed up the implementation progress.

International financial center

Ho Chi Minh City has proactively developed a Project on the Financial Center since 2019 and submitted it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment in November 2022. After having a National Steering Committee, Ho Chi Minh City continues to proactively research and propose mechanisms and policies to build an international financial center in the locality. The goal of building a financial center is to form a financial market, mobilize resources for the development of Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang in particular and the country in general, according to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. In the first half of this year, the City People's Committee continued to complete the Project based on opinions from the Steering Committee and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. At the same time, Ho Chi Minh City State Financial Investment Company (HFIC) coordinated with the Foreign Investment Agency and international consulting units to further complete it. In particular, Ho Chi Minh City proposed that the National Assembly approve 10 policy mechanisms focusing on pillar groups to successfully build an International Financial Center. The project to build the Vietnam International Financial Center in Ho Chi Minh City includes two main areas: the existing financial district in District 1 and the new financial district in Thu Thiem (Thu Duc City). These two areas will complement each other, with traditional financial services in District 1 and innovative financial services in Thu Thiem.

Downtown area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Hai Long).

This international financial center will focus on three main components: the monetary market and banking system, the capital market and the derivatives market. The outlined financial center will have an entertainment area and a casino, but it will not be the focus, but only considered as a factor to increase the attractiveness of investors. The city has a roadmap to deploy the international financial center in three phases until 2030. According to Chairman Phan Van Mai, the financial center in Ho Chi Minh City is operating with international elements but according to standards, it needs to learn more, establish a model and will start with the city's strengths. The project will be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration in the upcoming October session. In addition, another notable and expected project that Ho Chi Minh City has submitted to the Government is the Can Gio international transit super port. Currently, ministries and branches are giving their opinions on the project dossier of Can Gio international transit super port with a total investment of 113,531.7 billion VND (about 4.5 billion USD), proposed by Saigon Port Joint Stock Company and Terminal Investment Limited Holding SA (a member of MSC, a leading shipping company in the world ). The impacts, economic and environmental efficiency and the impact on the operations of seaports in the region are being clarified to be submitted to the Prime Minister for decision soon. Many experts assess that the construction and development of Can Gio international transit port will bring many benefits to Ho Chi Minh City in particular and the country in general. The port is located next to international and regional shipping routes, with many advantages and conveniences for maritime development, shipbuilding industry and logistics.

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Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/nhung-du-an-ty-usd-o-tphcm-sap-trinh-trung-uong-20241011180747715.htm