Mr. Tran Ba Duong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company ( THACO ) - speaking at a conference - Photo: TL
Mr. Tran Ba Duong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company (THACO) - has just sent a letter to shareholders, partners and employees, in which specific information about the proposed investment in the North - South high-speed railway line is attracting public attention.
Will invite other private enterprises to participate.
He said that in response to the Party and State's policy on developing the private economy and encouraging this sector to participate in important national projects (such as high-speed railways), on May 26, 2025, THACO sent Document No. 188 to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister proposing to invest in the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.
This project is considered to be very large in scale and challenging in terms of many specific technologies and techniques. Although it does not directly bring profits, the project will help THACO and the Vietnamese business community develop the metallurgical, heavy and precision mechanical, digital, signal and control industries, thereby narrowing the gap with developed countries.
THACO proposes to participate in this project in the spirit of learning through technology transfer and serious practice, ensuring all requirements and standards of the project.
The total investment capital of the project approved by the National Assembly (excluding site clearance costs implemented by the State) is about VND 1,562,000 billion, equivalent to about USD 61.35 billion.
THACO has proposed to establish a project implementation company (project enterprise), in which THACO holds a controlling stake of at least 51%.
This company will be primarily responsible for the management, implementation and operation of the project.
THACO can also invite domestic private and state-owned enterprises to contribute capital up to 49%.
The project enterprise is responsible for arranging capital for 20% of the total investment capital (about 312,000 billion VND, equivalent to 12.27 billion USD). Of this part, THACO is responsible for arranging 159,120 billion VND, equivalent to about 6.26 billion USD.
The remaining 80% of the total investment capital (equivalent to about 49.08 billion USD) is borrowed capital from domestic and foreign credit institutions. THACO proposed that the Government guarantee and support interest rates for this loan capital within 30 years.
Both of these capital portions are disbursed according to the project progress within 7 years (from the time the State hands over the cleared site), with a commitment not to use borrowed capital (about 80% of the total investment capital guaranteed by the State and supported by interest) for other purposes.
THACO can meet at least 6.26 billion USD of project capital
Regarding the method of THACO raising capital for its responsibility, the group plans to raise its responsibility capital (about 6.26 billion USD) mainly through increasing capital and selling shares in THACO and its member groups.
According to calculations, this capital mobilization will begin in 2027. On average, over 7 years, the capital needed to mobilize is about 22,730 billion VND/year, equivalent to 860.8 million USD to more than 1 billion USD/year.
At THACO, Mr. Tran Ba Duong and his family currently own 72%, while Jardine Matheson Group owns 26.6%. THACO and Mr. Duong's family will increase capital and sell shares in some member corporations until THACO only holds 51%.
In addition, he and his family will reduce their ownership ratio at THACO to 51% of capital through capital increase and share sale.
For example, under the agreement with Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited in 2023, THACO will increase capital so that Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited can buy shares at a price of 20 times THACO's consolidated profit in 2027.
If necessary, he said THACO could use most of its annual after-tax profit (estimated at VND15,000 billion/year) to contribute capital to implement the project.
The North-South high-speed railway project is a very large-scale project, with many challenges in terms of technology, specific techniques integrated with very high safety and security requirements.
"We at THACO must be receptive and invite Vietnamese businesses to participate in the project, in the spirit of learning through technology transfer and serious practice, ensuring all requirements and standards of the project," said Mr. Duong.
In the coming time, if requested by the Government, Mr. Tran Ba Duong affirmed that THACO will submit a project implementation proposal (more detailed and specific) with its capacity and qualifications 'honestly and receptively', while demonstrating the highest efforts and determination in the spirit of contributing to a project of great national significance.
"If THACO is allowed to participate in this project, as the leader, I pledge to manage and operate to implement the project well and not weaken the production and business plans in the fields THACO is implementing, but on the contrary, to complement the THACO ecosystem more" - billionaire Tran Ba Duong emphasized.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ti-phu-tran-ba-duong-len-tieng-ve-viec-thaco-tham-gia-du-an-duong-sat-cao-toc-bac-nam-20250530161204808.htm
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