The 21.92 km section of the expressway connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Long Thanh International Airport, part of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway, will be upgraded and expanded to 8 lanes, to be completed before December 2027.
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| Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway. |
Optimal investment scale
This is one of the notable points in Report No. 674/BC-UBQLV, recently submitted by the State Capital Management Committee to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other government leaders, regarding the investment plan for expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway Project.
The 55-kilometer Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway section, invested in by the Vietnam Expressway Investment and Development Corporation (VEC), was put into operation in mid-2016 with 4 lanes. The Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section is the main road connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Long Thanh International Airport.
Currently, the need to upgrade and expand the expressway is very urgent, especially the section from Ho Chi Minh City (An Phu interchange) to Long Thanh (interchange with the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway), approximately 26 km long, which is already operating at over 25% of its capacity and has not met transportation needs. When the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport is expected to be operational in early 2026, it will further increase pressure on this section of the expressway.
In Report No. 674/BC-UBQLV, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Canh, Vice Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, stated that VEC has recently researched and proposed two options for upgrading and expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway section. Specifically, under Option 1, VEC will be the investor (implementing the investment plan according to the Investment Law) for the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway Upgrade and Expansion Project.
Accordingly, the section of the expressway under the Project, with a construction scope from Km4+00 to Km25+920 and a total length of 21.92 km, will be expanded to 8 lanes, with land clearance for 10 lanes being implemented (land clearance has already been completed to ensure sufficient area for the 8-lane expansion). Specifically, two bridge locations (Song Tac - Km10+436, and the bridge within the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway interchange at Km24+646) will be fully expanded to 10 lanes according to the plan; and an additional Long Thanh bridge unit will be constructed with the same scale as the current Long Thanh bridge (4 lanes).
This option will ensure that traffic demand on the route is met until 2035 (traffic volume of approximately 114,315 CPUs/day). The total investment for Option 1 is VND 14,339.50 billion, including VND 4,639.50 billion of VEC's equity (32%) and VND 9,700 billion of commercial loans (68%). The project will undergo investment preparation from March 2024 to February 2025; and investment implementation from March 2025 to June 2028.
Under Option 2, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) will act as the managing agency, and VEC will be the investor (implementing the investment plan according to the Law on Public Investment). The scope of implementation remains the same as Option 1, but the section from Km4 to Km8+770 will be invested in with an 8-lane scale, and the section from Km8 to Km25+990 will be invested in with a 10-lane scale. The project will still invest in the construction of a single unit with the same scale as the current Long Thanh Bridge; land clearance will be carried out for the entire 10-lane section.
Under this plan, the total investment for the Project is VND 15,628.83 billion, including VND 9,000 billion from the state budget, accounting for 58%; and VND 6,628.83 billion mobilized by VEC, accounting for 42%.
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VEC has the capacity to handle it.
Due to difficulties in securing state budget funding and investment costs, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises recommends that the Prime Minister approve Option 1 - VEC as the investor (mobilizing 100% of investment capital - implementing the investment plan according to the Investment Law) to carry out the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway Upgrade and Expansion Project.
The leaders of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises proposed that the head of the Government allow VEC to freeze and postpone the repayment of principal and interest related to the bonds advanced by the Ministry of Finance from the 2022-2026 period to the 2033-2036 period; and at the same time, approve the addition of the Project to the list of national important projects and key projects in the transport sector.
To alleviate traffic congestion after Long Thanh International Airport becomes operational in 2026, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises recognizes the need to shorten the investment preparation phase and the preparation/approval of technical design documents/total cost estimates, so that the road section and elevated bridges can be completed by January 2027, and the Long Thanh Bridge by December 2027 (a 6-month reduction compared to VEC's proposal).
Regarding VEC's ability to balance equity and commercial loans, the owner's representative stated that VEC is currently undergoing the process/procedure to submit a request to the competent authority for an increase in charter capital. It is expected that in 2024, the charter capital will increase from VND 1,115 billion to approximately VND 25,000 billion. "Therefore, after the National Assembly approves the policy and the Prime Minister decides to invest additional charter capital, VEC will ensure the conditions for mobilizing commercial loans for the Project," Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Canh assessed.
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