Early decision on Ho Chi Minh City expressway expansion plan

Early selection of investment plan to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway section.

Specifically, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha concluded as follows: In Notice No. 200/TB-VPCP dated May 5, 2024 of the Government Office, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises to take full responsibility before the Prime Minister for completing the conditions of the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) to ensure progress requirements, promptly report and propose to the Deputy Prime Minister any problems, delays, infeasibility, failure to ensure progress and implementation plans.

However, up to now, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises has not yet reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on the necessary conditions to ensure the financial plan to assign VEC as the investor of the Project, especially on two issues: (i) increasing VEC's charter capital, (ii) deferring and postponing the payment of principal and interest related to the bonds that the Ministry of Finance has paid off.

To soon decide on the Project investment plan, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant agencies to urgently prepare a report to the Government Standing Committee on the following contents:

The State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises reports on the operating model and capacity of VEC; the implementation of the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study Report; and the Project's investment finance plan in case VEC is assigned to implement.

The Ministry of Finance reports on the handling of the increase in VEC's charter capital; the legal basis, authority to freeze and postpone the payment of principal and interest related to the bonds that the Ministry of Finance has paid off on behalf of VEC (including a clear report on the implementation of the conclusions of the Politburo, the Government and the Prime Minister related to this content).

The Ministry of Planning and Investment reports on the application of laws on investment, public investment and relevant laws to implement the Project; clearly proposes implementation plans and funding sources, ensuring compliance with regulations.

The Ministry of Transport shall preside over and coordinate with the State Capital Management Committee at enterprises to report on the legal and practical basis to propose assigning VEC to implement the Project investment; propose other investment options (if any) in case VEC is not qualified to implement.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the above agencies to submit reports to the Ministry of Transport before September 5, 2024 for synthesis and preparation of reports to be sent to the Government Standing Committee before September 6, 2024. After receiving the report from the Ministry of Transport, the Government Office will submit to the Prime Minister for permission to hold a meeting of the Government Standing Committee.

The Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway Project Phase 1 invested and operated by VEC has a scale of 4 lanes, 54 km long, is part of the North - South Expressway axis in the East, located in the Southern key economic region. Since its operation, the traffic volume on the route has continuously increased, averaging about 10.45%/year, and the route is now in a state of overload.

In particular, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section has exceeded the 4-lane cross-section capacity limit by 25% and will not be able to meet the traffic capacity when Long Thanh International Airport is put into operation (expected in 2026). Therefore, the proposal to study and expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section is necessary and urgent to meet transportation needs, serve socio-economic development, and ensure traffic safety for the whole Southeast region in particular and the whole country in general.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/som-quyet-dinh-phuong-an-mo-rong-cao-toc-tp-ho-chi-minh-long-thanh.html