On afternoon April 17, continuing the working program of the 32nd session, the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) gave opinions on the Government’s Submission on the feasibility study report of the North-South Expressway Construction Investment Project, Western Section from Gia Nghia (Dak Nong Province) – Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc Province).
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang presenting the submission at the meeting
Authorized by the Prime Minister, Minister of Transport (MoT) Nguyen Van Thang presented the Submission. According to the Minister, the North-South Expressway project, Western section Gia Nghia – Chon Thanh is a national重點project, the implementation of the project will not only create momentum, spillover effects, serve the socio-economic development of the Southeast and Central Highlands regions but also contribute to perfecting the expressway network according to the regional linkage planning.
The investment goal of the project is to connect the Central Highlands with the Southeast region, connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Phuoc, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai provinces and other localities in the region, creating new development spaces; exploiting the potential for land use, developing tourism, processing industry, mining, etc.
This project has a total length of about 128.8 km. According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the project will have a scale of 4 completed lanes; land clearance shall be implemented at once in accordance with the planning scale of 6 lanes. The preliminary total investment is about 25,540 billion VND, including 12,770 billion VND of state capital and 12,770 billion VND of capital mobilized by investors.
The Government proposes to divide the North-South Expressway Construction Investment Project, Western section Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) – Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc) into 5 component projects (including 1 component project invested under the PPP method and 4 component projects invested by the State). According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the project will start investment preparation from 2023, implementation from 2024, and strive to complete in 2026.
Regarding some proposals on project investment mechanisms and policies, the Government recommends that the National Assembly allow the project to apply some special mechanisms and policies, such as allowing the head of the competent authority to consider and decide on the designation of bidding during the project implementation for consulting packages, packages for technical infrastructure relocation, packages for compensation, site clearance, and resettlement.
Presenting the appraisal report, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee agreed on the necessity of investing in the project. However, some opinions suggested that it is necessary to carefully assess the ability to allocate resources and the effectiveness of resource allocation, management capacity, the potential to cause material shortages and price increases, to ensure the effectiveness in the use of investment capital.
On the investment method, some opinions suggested clarifying the attractiveness of the project to investors when the financial efficiency indicators of the project are not high. The Standing Committee of the Economic Committee noted that the project has a large scale, complex technical requirements, and a short implementation time. Therefore, it is recommended to supplement solutions to ensure the进度and quality of the project.
Regarding the proposal on bidding designation mechanisms, the Economic Committee noticed that some contents of the bidding designation proposal for the project have been regulated in the Bidding Law 2023. Therefore, it is proposed to review and only propose contents that exceed the regulations of the Bidding Law 2023.
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