From Land Handover Delays…
In late October 2024, the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) approved a system of rest stops along the North-South Expressway from Lang Son to Ca Mau, totaling 36 stations.
This March, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh requested that all stations complete the construction of public service facilities by December 30, 2025, to ensure the synchronous operation of the expressway.
However, according to the latest progress update from the Vietnam Road Administration (VRA), the implementation progress of some rest stops has not met the requirements. Specifically, out of the 8 rest stops that signed contracts in August 2024, only 2 are under construction, 3 are expected to start construction this month, and the remaining 3 cannot commence construction due to land handover issues.

The North-South Expressway rest stops are facing delays.
For the 10 rest stops that signed contracts in March and April of this year, 6 have completed land clearance, 3 have partially handed over the land, and 1 has not yet handed over any land. Additionally, the bidding process for 3 rest stops needs to be repeated, with new contracts expected to be signed by the end of this month or in July.
In Announcement No. 235 dated May 17, the Prime Minister requested that 8 provinces, including Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Dong Nai, and Kien Giang, complete land handover for the rest stops by May 20. However, these provinces have not finished the land clearance process, affecting the overall progress, especially for one station where the investor could not access the site for survey and project development.
… to Mechanism Hurdles
Regarding the reasons for the delays in the progress of the rest stops, the leadership of the VRA attributed it to the government’s decision to develop the rest stops through socialization. However, the legal regulations on socialization are constantly changing and not yet完善. As a result, there were instances where the tender announcement had to be canceled and the investor selection process halted due to changes in legal regulations. Consequently, only 18 rest stop contracts have been signed along the North-South Expressway so far.
In the past, most of the rest stops were handed over with a partial land area of a few hectares, along with the expressways during the investment construction process. However, Decision No. 938 dated July 31, 2023, of the Ministry of Transport, which approved the network of rest stops along the North-South Expressway, increased the scale of each rest stop to 3-5 hectares on each side. Therefore, the Project Management Boards and local authorities had to undergo land clearance procedures from the beginning, according to the new scale of the rest stops, which took a significant amount of time, especially with the frequent changes in land-related regulations (Land Law 2024, requiring adjustments to planning and district-level land use plans to meet the conditions for land compensation and clearance).

A temporary rest stop on the North-South Expressway from Ha Tinh to Ninh Binh.
Moreover, changes in environmental protection regulations have also impacted the progress of the rest stops to some extent.
Moving forward, to ensure the progress of the rest stop projects according to the contracts, the VRA will intensify inspections, collaborate with local authorities and Project Management Boards, and work closely with investors to address challenges and bottlenecks. They will also compile reports for the leadership of the Ministry of Construction to hold meetings and work with local governments on land clearance issues, aiming to complete this process by June, as directed by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Construction.
The VRA has instructed investors to enhance the quality of services provided at the temporary rest stops along the North-South Expressway, especially during the summer peak season this year.