The recently issued Notification No. 260/TB-VPCP from the Government Office highlights the Prime Minister’s conclusions from the meeting on May 20 regarding the progress of the high-speed North-South railway and the connecting line from Lao Cai to Hanoi and Haiphong. The project is identified as one of the country’s strategic transportation infrastructures, featuring a large scale and advanced technology and techniques, necessitating close and effective coordination among relevant parties.
The Prime Minister emphasized the need to implement the project with a spirit of decisive and efficient action, assigning clear responsibilities, timelines, and outcomes for each task. Ministries, sectors, and localities are instructed to adhere to the principle of “focusing on one task at a time and completing it before moving on,” ensuring a synchronized and systematic approach to maintain progress and quality.
 Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the meeting on May 20 with relevant ministries and units to review the implementation of railway projects connecting with China – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
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The Ministry of Construction is assigned to take the lead in several crucial tasks, including finalizing the route alignment and handing over the site boundaries to localities within May. Additionally, the Ministry is responsible for completing the translation of technical standards and issuing the system of norms and technical standards applicable to the project as directed in Notification No. 213 dated May 4, 2025.
Regarding financing, the Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is instructed to expedite negotiations to promptly sign the loan agreement, ensuring sufficient financial resources for the project by August 2025.
On technology transfer and human resource development, the Prime Minister mandates that these must be compulsory requirements in negotiations with partners. The Ministry of Construction, in coordination with other ministries and sectors, is tasked with finalizing the technology transfer plan by June 20, 2025, while the Ministry of Education and Training is responsible for finalizing the proposal for training high-quality human resources to serve the railway sector, ensuring a sufficient number of skilled engineers and workers domestically.
Concurrently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is assigned to develop a proposal for the development of the domestic railway industry, maximizing the involvement of Vietnamese enterprises, regardless of their type. This proposal should also be completed by June 2025.
In terms of compensation, resettlement support, and land use conversion, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are instructed to guide localities in addressing issues related to land use conversion, especially for forest and agricultural land. The Ministry of National Defense is also requested to review and proactively relocate defense works and land that may impact the project.
Localities, in coordination with the Vietnam Electricity Group, are urged to strictly implement the tasks outlined in Dispatch No. 54 dated April 30, 2025, ensuring the complete handover of the site for the project’s commencement by the end of the year.
Regarding the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong connecting line, the Prime Minister also directed the acceleration of tasks related to the high-speed North-South railway project. The Ministry of Construction is assigned a deputy minister to directly oversee this project, ensuring adherence to the timeline set by the Government’s Resolution 106 and the plan to implement the National Assembly’s Resolution 172/2024.
The Prime Minister affirmed that the formation of a railway industry complex and the development of the domestic railway sector are not solely the responsibilities of a particular ministry or enterprise but a national duty. Taking the initiative in building technical, technological, and human resource capabilities will lay the foundation for Vietnam to master modern transportation infrastructure in the future.
– 7:00 PM, May 25, 2025
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