The Ministry of Transport has submitted to the Prime Minister for approval the planning adjustment for the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong section to be expanded to 10-12 lanes.
The conclusion of the report states: The Prime Minister has directed the Ministry of Transport to advise on the investment in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong – My Thuan expressway since July 2023. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Transport to study and propose investments under Document No. 6727/VPCP-CN dated August 31, 2023. During the study and proposal for adjusting the road network planning for the period of 2021-2025, with a vision towards 2050, the Ministry of Transport has selected and worked with investors to propose the project and prepare the pre-feasibility study report. However, the implementation of the Government’s directions has been slower than expected, partly due to the need to wait for the Road Law to take effect on January 1, 2025. Therefore, the Ministry of Transport is requested to urgently take the next steps to be able to commence the project in the second quarter of 2025.
Regarding the investment scale: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha basically agrees with the proposal of the Ministry of Transport and the investor. However, the Ministry of Transport and the investor need to discuss further with related localities to agree on the optimal investment scale, ensuring feasibility and early construction. Traffic congestion must not occur shortly after construction. The Ministry of Transport, the project’s investor, and consultants are responsible for the calculation data and forecasts, especially the traffic flow forecast.
Regarding the competent authority to implement the PPP project: In Document No. 5498/VPCP-CN dated July 20, 2023, the Prime Minister directed that “… it should be assigned to the local authority“. Therefore, the Ministry of Transport is requested to discuss with the People’s Committee of Tien Giang province (or related localities). If agreed upon, the local authority will be assigned as the competent authority as directed by the Prime Minister, and it should be reported to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision in January 2025. This should be done in the spirit of ensuring the convenience and capacity to organize the implementation of the project as soon as possible. If the Ministry of Transport is the competent authority to ensure the compatibility of the organization’s capacity and can speed up the investment and construction progress, it needs to be reported to the Prime Minister.
The selected investor must meet full capacity and experience requirements
Regarding the selection of investors: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to propose a plan for selecting investors according to the Law on Bidding No. 57/2024/QH15, ensuring that the selected investor must meet the full capacity and experience requirements to implement the project as soon as possible.
Currently, the Ministry of Transport has submitted to the Prime Minister for approval the planning adjustment for the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong section to be expanded to 10-12 lanes. The Ministry of Transport has received feedback from the leaders of the Ministry of Planning and Investment at the meeting and will coordinate with related localities to establish a land clearance project according to the planning scale. In addition, the Ministry of Transport will coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to balance legal and feasible capital sources to hand over to localities for immediate implementation, avoiding additional costs and facilitating the expansion investment.
