Early signing of contract appendix for National Highway 20 restoration project

A section of National Highway 20 through Lam Dong .

Vietnam Road Administration has just sent an official dispatch to Project Management Board 85; Joint Venture of investors: Corporation 319 of the Ministry of National Defense , Yen Khanh Group Joint Stock Company - Thai Son E&C Joint Stock Company and BOT and BT National Highway 20 Company Limited (Project Enterprise) on signing the appendix to the contract for the Investment Project to construct the project to restore and renovate National Highway 20, section Km123+205 - Km268+00, Lam Dong province, under the form of a BOT and BT contract.

According to the Vietnam Road Administration, at Point a, Clause 2, Article 50 of the Law on Investment under the PPP method, it is stipulated that "One of the contracting parties has a written request to amend the contract, clearly stating the cases applicable for consideration of amendment".

Therefore, the Vietnam Road Administration requests that investors and project enterprises submit documents amending the contract that must be signed by the joint venture members. Investors and project enterprises must clearly state the cases that are applied for consideration and amendment according to regulations. At the same time, closely coordinate with relevant agencies and provide complete documents during the review process.

To speed up the signing of the Project contract appendix, the Vietnam Road Administration requests Project Management Board 85 to review and provide confirmation of the settled value, remaining unsettled costs; related costs during the implementation phase (including disbursement of equity capital, loans, State budget capital, site clearance, etc.) and to comment on the content of the draft Project contract appendix submitted by the investor and send it to the Vietnam Road Administration in accordance with regulations.

In early September 2024, the Investor Consortium sent a document requesting the Vietnam Road Administration - the competent State agency and Project Management Board 85 - the representative of the competent State agency to soon sign Contract Appendix No. 37/PLHD.BOT.BT-BGTVT.

Based on the Investor's request, the Vietnam Road Administration and Project Management Board 85 exchanged documents and had meetings with the Investor and Project Enterprise on detailed contents to complete the Contract Appendix according to regulations.

However, since the time the investor submitted the draft Contract Appendix, the National Assembly , the Government and the Ministries have issued new policies for investment projects under the PPP method and have arranged budget capital to pay for the BT component project of National Highway 20.

Specifically, the National Assembly issued Law No. 57/2024/QH15 dated November 29, 2024 and Law No. 90/2025/QH15 dated June 25, 2025; The Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) issued Decision No. 1700/QDBGTVT dated December 30, 2024 on the detailed allocation of the state budget investment plan for 2025, including the arrangement of payment capital for the BT National Highway 20 component project in 2025 of more than VND 524 billion.

Therefore, completing the content of the draft Contract Appendix No. 37/PLHD.BOT.BT-BGTVT is extremely necessary to disburse the payment capital to the investor according to the obligations of the competent State agency.

Due to the long waiting time for payment and payment of budget capital to investors of the BT component project of National Highway 20 (8 years), it has caused a lot of damage and consequences to the reputation and finances of the investor.

“Therefore, the Investor Consortium requests the Vietnam Road Administration to promptly consider and agree to sign the above Contract Appendix as a basis for ensuring payment of State budget capital for the BT Project according to the 2025 budget capital plan of the Ministry of Construction; comply with legal regulations and the Project Contract”, Mr. Khuong Van Thuy, Chairman of the Management Board of the Consortium proposed.

The investment project to build and restore National Highway 20, section Km123+205.17 - Km268+00 in Lam Dong province under the form of a BOT and BT contract with a total investment of more than 4,100 billion VND was completed and put into operation many years ago.

In which, Component Project 1, the construction and renovation of National Highway 20, section Km0 - Km123+105.17, is implemented under the BT contract, paid for by State budget capital.

However, although the project has been put into operation and has been effective since 2017, investors have not yet received payments as stipulated in the contract despite capital allocation by competent authorities.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/som-ky-phu-luc-hop-dong-cho-du-an-cong-trinh-khoi-phuc-cai-tao-quoc-lo-20-d391853.html