The ordering mechanism for railway infrastructure mega-projects is gradually becoming clearer.

Vietnamese enterprises will be ordered and assigned to perform many services and goods for the railway industry.

Big playground

After 6 months of urgent research and extensive consultation with industry associations and leading enterprises in the railway and mechanical engineering sectors, earlier this week, the Ministry of Construction submitted Document No. 133/TTr-BXD to the Prime Minister on the Draft Decision of the Prime Minister promulgating the List of railway industrial services and goods assigned or ordered to Vietnamese organizations and enterprises (List).

Accordingly, the List submitted by the Ministry of Construction to the Head of Government for approval includes 4 groups: railway vehicles; information systems, railway signaling systems; rails, switches, connecting accessories; railway traction power supply systems.

These groups of services and goods are further divided into 15 essential services and goods that Vietnamese enterprises can be ordered or assigned by the State. If following the roadmap for railway construction in the next 5-10 years, the total value of these services and goods can reach 15-20 billion USD.

The drafting agency affirmed that the groups of goods and services are considered based on the capacity of domestic enterprises, targeting enterprises in the mechanical engineering - manufacturing industry, production of electrical - electronic equipment, production - assembly of vehicles, information technology, electricity - energy.

Some large corporations such as Viettel, VNPT, Vingroup, Truong Hai ( THACO ), Thanh Cong, Hoa Phat, FPT, Gia Lam Railway Company... can be interested in and participate in research, investment in production and development of railway industrial products and services.

Currently, the national railway network of Vietnam consists of 7 main lines and 12 branch lines, with a total length of 2,703 km. The railway industry with the core of Vietnam Railway Corporation has achieved certain results, but mainly in the field of maintenance and repair of low-speed transport vehicles and production and fabrication of simple, outdated mechanical equipment and materials.

In the urban railway sector, all three lines including Cat Linh - Ha Dong, Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station and Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien have been put into operation, but are still under warranty or have not yet had a need to replace equipment.

Although there are 35 establishments participating in production in the industry, most of the machinery, components and equipment still have to be imported. The domestic railway industry generally lacks uniformity, has outdated technology, and lacks the capacity to participate in manufacturing and producing equipment for electrified railway projects; at the same time, there is a lack of equipment, technology and specialized human resources to serve this field.

According to Mr. Nguyen Danh Huy, Deputy Minister of Construction, this list will be the basis for competent agencies and organizations to assign tasks or order railway industrial products and services to Vietnamese enterprises.

“This is a premise for domestic enterprises to feel secure, proactively research, invest, improve design, manufacturing, production capacity, gradually increase the localization rate; initially focusing on product groups with large market demand, suitable for technological capacity, production level and domestic human resources, especially railway materials, equipment and spare parts,” Mr. Huy emphasized.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy added that the issuance of the List also contributes to creating a foundation for Vietnamese enterprises to proactively participate deeply in the domestic supply chain, gradually master technology, develop sustainable railway industry, meet the requirements of socio-economic development, and ensure national defense and security.

In case of approval, the Ministry of Construction will preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant agencies to widely disseminate the List, and at the same time introduce market demand and selection criteria to attract organizations and businesses interested in participating in research, investment in production and development of domestic railway industrial products and services.

“Competent agencies and organizations shall base on the issued List to decide on implementation methods and select appropriate suppliers according to the Government's prescribed criteria on assigning tasks, placing orders and selecting Vietnamese enterprises,” Report No. 133 clearly stated.

Vietnamese enterprises will be ordered and assigned to perform many services and goods for the railway industry.

Lessons on developing autonomous railway industry

Along with the construction of the List, the Ministry of Construction is also urgently completing the Draft Decree regulating the assignment of tasks, placing orders and criteria for selecting Vietnamese organizations and enterprises to be assigned tasks and place orders to provide railway industrial goods and services.

It is known that the current legal system has no regulations on assigning tasks, ordering the provision of railway industrial goods and services using budget capital other than regular expenditures. Current documents such as Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP on assigning tasks, ordering or bidding for the provision of public products and services using the state budget from regular expenditures and Decree No. 98/2025/ND-CP on the management and use of public assets only regulate regular expenditures or public asset management, not covering development investment.

Due to the lack of appropriate regulations, the assignment of tasks or placing orders to domestic enterprises is almost impossible, causing the majority of railway industrial goods and equipment to be imported, increasing dependence on foreign technology, not creating a large enough market for Vietnamese enterprises to invest, receive technology and develop domestic production. This limits the opportunities for the development of Vietnam's railway industry, and is not consistent with the Party and State's major policies and guidelines on developing a self-reliant, modern and sustainable national industry.

In a report sent to the Government in mid-October 2025, the Ministry of Construction said that the agency in charge of drafting the Decree has basically completed the set of criteria for selecting suppliers.

Accordingly, regulations on the financial capacity of units selected to place orders or assign tasks are built in a strict direction, ensuring the selection of enterprises with real potential, capable of accessing advanced railway technology, playing a core role, leading the domestic industry, participating deeply in the supply chain of railway industrial products, gradually mastering technology, aiming to build a national brand in this field.

Specifically, the Ministry of Construction proposed that suppliers must have non-negative net assets, demonstrate the ability to arrange equity capital, mobilize loans and other legal sources to ensure the performance of assigned tasks.

Enterprises operating for more than 3 years must have an average revenue of 8,000 billion VND or more in the last 3 years; enterprises operating for less than 3 years must have a minimum charter capital of 3,000 billion VND. These levels are referenced according to Vietnam Railway Corporation, the only state-owned enterprise currently in the railway sector.

In case of foreign investment, enterprises must ensure that at least 35% of charter capital is owned by domestic investors, in order to play a decisive role in operations and ensure that Vietnamese enterprises can access, receive and master technology from foreign partners.

Experience in Korea shows that when implementing the high-speed rail project, the government of this country assigned Hyundai Rotem Group to receive technology, manufacture vehicles and signaling systems to serve the project. If in 1999, Rotem's charter capital was 175 billion won (about 3,552 billion VND), then thanks to participating in the high-speed rail project, by 2024, this number has increased to 2,009 billion won (about 40,784 billion VND).

Rotem Group currently manufactures locomotives, rolling stock, and signaling systems for urban, national, and high-speed railways; is among the top 10 global train manufacturers (nearly 2% market share) and ranks 3rd in the world for urban railways (nearly 14%), just behind Bombardier and Alstom.

This is a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of the task assignment mechanism associated with technology transfer, forming key enterprises in the railway industry.

“For smaller-scale enterprises, the Draft Decree allows participation in one or several components of railway industrial goods and services as supporting partners, creating a foundation for forming a domestic supporting industrial chain, promoting the comprehensive development of Vietnam's railway industry,” said a leader of the Ministry of Construction.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/ro-dan-co-che-dat-hang-cho-cac-sieu-du-an-ha-tang-duong-sat-d425808.html