The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized his impartial and objective viewpoint when considering businesses participating in the North-South high-speed railway project and “there is nothing fishy”.
On November 27, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh met with leaders of ministries, branches and businesses about the high-speed railway project on the North – South axis. The meeting aimed to consult businesses on plans and solutions, and at the same time learn and evaluate the true capacity and goodwill of investors.
At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said that the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis has 3 investment methods, including public investment, public-private partnership (PPP) and private investment. The requirement is to choose the optimal form of investment that is most beneficial for the country.
According to a report from the Ministry of Construction, the number of records and documents sent by businesses interested in the project is large. However, through inspection and review, many businesses have unclear investment ideas, lack investment and financial capacity, and even many business profiles lack information and contact addresses…
Mekolor and Great (USA) investor alliance – the unit that announced to mobilize 100 billion USD for the project – was contacted to invite a meeting but could not be contacted.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the review must be fair, objective, transparent, public, “nothing tainted” and straightforward and open communication. At the same time, the Government also welcomes and appreciates the goodwill of businesses that want to contribute to the country’s development in the new era.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh spoke at a working session with businesses and ministries on the high-speed railway project. Image: VGP
The North-South high-speed railway project was approved by the National Assembly for investment in November 2024 with a total preliminary capital of about 1.7 million billion VND, equivalent to 67 billion USD. The route is 1,541 km long, starting at Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi), ending at Thu Thiem station (HCMC), passing through 20 provinces and cities. This is one of the strategic infrastructure projects expected to create new growth momentum for the economy. The project is applied in the form of public investment, with a total preliminary investment of 1,713 million billion VND (more than 67 billion USD).
A number of businesses have expressed their desire to participate in investing in this project, such as Vinspeed (part of Vingroup), Thaco, Mekolor – Great USA joint venture, Thang Long National Construction Company, Vietnam Railway Transport… Hoa Phat also plans to build a steel factory to provide steel rail products for this project.
At the meeting, business representatives presented their ideas, investment plans, financial plans, technology, and investment forms when participating.. Government leaders directly answer and exchange questions and issues that investors are interested in.
Representative of Vietnam 3000 Company Limited – Vietnam Investment and Development Group wants to cooperate and invest in the project in the form of public-private partnership. However, this company has not clarified some contents about financial capacity, capital contribution ratio, capital mobilization basis…
Mr. Nguyen Nam Thieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Discovery Group Joint Stock Company, expressed his willingness to cooperate and invest in the project according to the capital recovery business plan. Currently, the group has about 70 people and a total capital of about 2,000-3,000 billion VND, equal to about 0.2% of the total project investment (67 billion USD).
Meanwhile, representatives of Vietnam Railway Transport Joint Stock Company want to participate in the project but mainly focus on the infrastructure of signal information equipment and electrical systems.
General Director of Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company Nguyen Hoang Tue spoke at the meeting. Image: VGP
General Director of Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company Nguyen Hoang Tue said that this investor will be responsible for 20% of investment capital, 80% of mobilized and borrowed capital. In addition to equity capital, Thaco will establish companies to mobilize investment capital from domestic and international businesses and corporations for implementation.
Thaco calculates the expected project implementation time from Hanoi to Vinh and from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang to be 5 years, the section from Nha Trang to Vinh is 7 years. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tue affirmed that Thaco is committed to ensuring human resource work, progress, project quality, and disbursement on schedule. They asked the Government to soon issue policy mechanisms and standard frameworks for the project for businesses to research and participate.
Vinspeed High Speed Rail Investment and Development Joint Stock Company proposes to invest in the project in the form of business investment with a total investment of over 61 billion USD (excluding site clearance). The estimated construction period is 5 years from the date the state allocates clean land to the project.
Mr. Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice President and General Director of Vingroup at the meeting. Image: VGP
Mr. Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice President and General Director of Vingroup – investor Vinspeed proposed to borrow 80% of the project’s investment capital and repay it within 30 years. Vinspeed affirms that it strictly complies with loan regulations and does not sell bids or transfer projects. They affirmed that they will ensure investment in modern technology and equipment, and increase cooperation with partners in increasing the localization rate of the railway industry. This group is also willing to accept some business risks, committing not to incur capital or excess capital…
According to VinSpeed’s plan, the state lends 80% instead of paying 100% of the total investment. Along with that, the state can recover 80% of loan capital after 30 years instead of waiting for payback after 140 years, or even longer. In addition, the system is put into operation after 5 years instead of after 10 years.
“This will create motivation for the country’s economic development and convenient transportation. At the same time, the state will not worry about overcapitalization or delay in progress and will still have the high-speed rail industry without having to invest capital,” Mr. Quang said.
In conclusion, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh emphasized that the high-speed railway project is large-scale, has high technology content and is extremely important to the economy. He believes that exchanging and finding information with businesses and investors is very necessary. Thereby, the operator knows the goodwill of the business.
According to Government leaders, this is not a game to choose or decide on investors. Therefore, based on the documents and information provided by businesses, he requested the Ministry of Construction, Finance, State Bank and related agencies to complete a report proposing investment methods and mechanisms to submit to the Government.
“Ministries and branches actively contributed to the report. This will be an important basis for the Government to discuss and evaluate before reporting to competent authorities for consideration and decision,” the Deputy Prime Minister added.