Prime Minister Chairs Meeting on 40 Key National Transport Projects

The meeting was held in a hybrid format, combining online and offline participation, between the Government Headquarters and provinces and centrally-run cities with important national and key transport infrastructure projects.

Attendees included: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee; Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang; Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi; Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee Nguyen Hoang Anh; members of the Steering Committee; leaders of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and governmental agencies; chairpeople of provincial and municipal People’s Committees; and representatives of project management boards, investors, and contractors.

Both an important political task and an expression of “national spirit and solidarity”

The meeting aimed to inspect and urge the implementation of tasks following the 13th meeting and discuss solutions to further remove obstacles and accelerate the progress of the projects.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that as of now, the list of projects under the Steering Committee’s supervision includes 40 large projects/92 sub-projects in three fields: roads, railways, and aviation, spanning 48 provinces and centrally-run cities.

The Prime Minister stressed that from now until the end of 2025, only about 15 months remain, and the workload is enormous. Therefore, he proposed discussing solutions to speed up the progress while ensuring the quality of the projects and applying valuable experiences from the 500kV power line project.

Accordingly, it is necessary to create a vibrant emulation movement, mobilize forces, and generate combined strength with the entire political system, under the leadership and direction of Party committees and authorities, and with the active participation of the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations. Main contractors should mobilize subcontractors to create jobs and livelihoods for local people and businesses and improve the capacity of local contractors. The spirit should be “working together, winning together, sharing together, and developing together.”

The Prime Minister also took time to analyze the importance of strategic transport infrastructure. In particular, a preliminary assessment showed that Super Storm No. 3 caused damage worth approximately VND 40 trillion. We must find solutions to make up for these losses, including accelerating public investment disbursement and promoting three strategic breakthroughs, one of which is the transport infrastructure breakthrough.

Therefore, implementing key national transport infrastructure projects is both an important political task and an expression of “national spirit and solidarity.” Ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses must focus on this with a spirit and responsibility for the people and the country. Once committed, it must be done; commendations and rewards should be given to those who perform well, and those who are sluggish, push tasks away, or shirk responsibilities should be handled according to the Party and State regulations.

Completing many important tasks after the 13th meeting

At the 13th meeting on August 8, 2024, the Prime Minister assigned 42 tasks to ministries, sectors, and localities, focusing on removing obstacles and accelerating land clearance and providing construction materials, especially for key transport projects in the southern region.

According to the Ministry of Transport’s report, so far, 11 tasks have been completed within the required timeframe, 28 tasks are being actively implemented as regular steering and directing tasks, and one task is not yet due. Among them, several important tasks have been completed.

The Ministry of Construction has been very proactive and responsible in coordinating with ministries, sectors, and localities to build and issue a Circular amending and supplementing construction norms, contributing to improving both the quantity and quality of norms and limiting inconsistencies to make them more practical. They have also issued documents guiding localities in determining costs related to providing construction materials through a special mechanism, removing difficulties in determining and managing costs for key transport projects.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, on behalf of the Prime Minister, presented to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee a proposal to adjust Resolution No. 273/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the policy of converting forest land use purpose and rice land with two or more crops per year for the North-South Expressway project in the 2021-2025 period. They have also sent documents to localities to promulgate Decree No. 91/2024/ND-CP dated July 18, 2024, on procedures for converting forest land use purposes.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has submitted to the Government a Draft Law amending and supplementing several articles of several laws to remove obstacles in construction investment and submitted to the Prime Minister a plan to adjust the medium-term public investment plan for the domestic central budget in 2024.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has guided Ben Tre Province in exploiting common construction minerals through a special mechanism to serve the projects.

The State Capital Management Committee has reported on the investment plan to expand the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh section and directed the Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) to guide its units to remove difficulties and obstacles in relocating high-voltage power lines.

The Central Council for Emulation and Rewards has coordinated with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, and localities to organize a ceremony to launch the peak emulation movement “500 days and nights of emulation to complete 3,000 km of highways.”

The Ministry of Transport has submitted to the Politburo a proposal for investment in the high-speed North-South railway and submitted to the Government a Resolution on implementing the National Assembly’s Resolution No. 138/2024/QH15 on the policy of investing in the construction of the Gia Nghia-Chon Thanh highway.

Regarding investment preparation, Ho Chi Minh City has coordinated with the provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Long An to report to the Prime Minister on the policy of establishing a pre-feasibility study report for the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 project. The Prime Minister has assigned ministries and sectors to handle Ho Chi Minh City’s proposals.

The People’s Council of Binh Duong Province has adjusted the investment policy for the Ho Chi Minh City-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh project. Cao Bang Province is coordinating with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to clarify the appraisal opinions on adjusting the investment policy for the Dong Dang-Tra Linh expressway project as directed by the Deputy Prime Minister.

The Ministry of Transport is appraising the adjustment of the investment policy for the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway project and has completed the pre-feasibility study report for the high-speed North-South railway project according to the Government’s Resolution and sent it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for appraisal (second time).

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has coordinated with the Hanoi People’s Committee to complete the dossier and report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on adjusting the investment policy for the Nam Thang Long-Tran Hung Dao urban railway project.

Regarding the approval of feasibility study reports, Ninh Binh Province has approved the feasibility study report for the Ninh Binh-Hai Phong project.

Thai Binh Province is submitting the Nam Dinh-Thai Binh project’s feasibility study report to the inter-sectoral appraisal council. Son La Province is completing the feasibility study report for the Hoa Binh-Moc Chau project according to the appraisal opinion of the construction specialized agency. Lam Dong Province is directing the investor to complete the feasibility study report for the Tan Phu-Bao Loc project according to the appraisal opinion. Lam Dong and Binh Duong provinces are appraising the feasibility study reports for the Bao Loc-Lien Khuong and Ho Chi Minh City-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh projects, respectively.

On September 4, 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister held a meeting with Lam Dong Province and relevant ministries and sectors to remove difficulties and obstacles and accelerate the approval of the Tan Phu-Bao Loc and Bao Loc-Lien Khuong projects.

Regarding site clearance, with the Prime Minister’s strong direction at the 13th meeting of the Steering Committee and Official Dispatch No. 80/CD-TTg dated August 16, 2024, localities have actively implemented this work, and there has been a significant change.

However, as the remaining area is mainly residential land, implementing the identification of origins and compensation plans is complex, so some localities have not yet met the requirements, including Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Khanh Hoa, and Lang Son.

Regarding construction materials, for projects in the North and Central regions, the supply of materials has basically met the construction needs.

For projects in the southern region, following the direction of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on assigning material supply targets to localities, localities have coordinated with investors and contractors to implement procedures related to mine allocation for the projects. However, the progress is still slow, affecting construction progress. Besides Vinh Long Province, which has allocated 1.1/3.4 million m3, the provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre are still implementing procedures for mine allocation and supplementation.

For the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway project, Dong Nai Province is implementing and completing mine allocation procedures but slower than the Prime Minister’s requirements.

Regarding construction implementation, to implement the “500 days and nights of emulation to complete 3,000 km of highways” movement, the Ministry of Transport has coordinated with localities assigned as managing agencies to review the implementation plan, build detailed schedules, especially for critical path tasks, to urge units.

Most projects with sufficient construction materials and favorable site clearance conditions are progressing as required.

Some projects with large values, such as the North-South Expressway project in the 2021-2025 period, have achieved 52% completion, Chau Doc-Can Tho-Sóc Trăng (through An Giang) 26%, Hanoi Ring Road 4 (through Hanoi) 33%, Tuyen Quang-Ha Giang (through Ha Giang) 35%, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 (through Long An) 41%, Cao Lanh-An Huu (through Dong Thap) 36%, and Bien Hoa-Vung Tau (through Ba Ria-Vung Tau) 35%. Some sub-projects are striving to complete three to six months ahead of schedule.

However, the construction progress of projects in some localities is still slow, such as Can Tho and Soc Trang in the Chau Doc-Can Tho-Sóc Trăng project, Bac Ninh in the Hanoi Ring Road 4 project, Cao Bang in the Dong Dang-Tra Linh project, and Lang Son, which has just started constructing the Huu Nghi-Chi Lang project. Especially for projects planned to be completed in 2025, including Dong Nai in the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau (sub-project 1) and Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 (sub-project 3) projects, Binh Duong in the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project, and Tuyen Quang in the Tuyen Quang-Ha Giang project.

Regarding the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway project, the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) is making efforts to implement the project according to the set schedule, has opened bidding for package J3-1, and is resolving related procedures to start construction. At the same time, the Ministry of Transport has compiled and submitted an adjustment to the investment policy for the project.

Regarding the Long Thanh International Airport project, the construction of headquarters for state management agencies is being implemented according to the schedule, with 94% of the concrete structure of the Air Traffic Control Tower completed. The package for the passenger terminal has finished the entire concrete structure and is installing the steel roof structure according to the plan. Other packages and items, including the runway, taxiway, and two connecting roads, are being implemented to meet the plan.

The Tan Son Nhat T3 Terminal project has completed the concrete work and installed the roof steel structure and is implementing the remaining items according to the schedule.

The Nhon-Hanoi Railway project has excavated 297 meters and installed 186 rings of the tunnel section. The Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien urban railway project continues testing until November 2024 to serve the assessment of system safety certification and personnel training.

Regarding projects in areas affected by Super Storm No. 3, investors have strictly implemented the Prime Minister’s and the Ministry of Transport’s urgent dispatches, proactively implemented prevention and control measures, and minimized damage. The construction works did not cause flooding in surrounding areas. Currently, units are repairing site roads, power lines, etc., to resume construction.

The Government Portal will continue to update information about the meeting.

Ha Van