Need for outstanding policies in investing in North-South high-speed railway project

On the evening of November 6, at the National Assembly House, right after the afternoon session of the National Assembly Session, the National Assembly Standing Committee met to give opinions on the investment policy of the North-South high-speed railway project.

Presenting the Project Report, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that in the past time, the Central Executive Committee and the Politburo had many conclusions on the investment policy of the North-South high-speed railway project; in which, at the 10th Conference of the 13th Party Central Executive Committee, the investment policy for the entire route, speed of 350km/h, was agreed upon and relevant agencies were assigned to complete the dossier to submit to the 15th National Assembly at the 8th Session for consideration and decision to approve the policy, some specific mechanisms and policies to mobilize resources and investment procedures for the project.

Regarding the context of the project, the Minister of Transport said that the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study Report assessed the domestic and international context and the development of railway infrastructure; at the same time, it clearly stated the reason why the high-speed railway line on the North-South axis was not approved by the National Assembly in 2010 due to concerns about the speed, exploitation plan, and investment resources in the context of the low economic scale in 2010.

With the increasing demand for transportation, the economic scale in 2023 will reach 430 billion USD, nearly 3 times higher than in 2010; public debt is low at about 37% of GDP; the estimated time of construction implementation in 2027, the economic scale is estimated to reach 564 billion USD, so investment resources are no longer a major obstacle.

According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the goal of the Project is to build a high-speed railway to meet transportation needs, contribute to restructuring the transportation market share on the North-South corridor in an optimal and sustainable manner, create a premise and driving force for socio-economic development, and ensure national defense and security.

The high-speed railway line starts in Hanoi (Ngoc Hoi station) and ends in Ho Chi Minh City (Thu Thiem station), passing through 20 provinces and cities; the route length is about 1,541km.

Regarding the scale of investment, a new double-track railway line, 1,435mm gauge, electrification, design speed 350 km/h, load capacity 22.5 tons/axle; passenger transport, meeting dual-use requirements for national defense and security, and can transport goods when necessary.

Railways run on rails, passenger trains use distributed power train technology, freight trains use centralized power; signal information is equivalent to the system currently used in countries operating high-speed railways in the world.

Proposed selection of technical standards to ensure the train has a design speed of 350 km/h. The total land use requirement of the Project is approximately 10,827 hectares, with a resettled population of approximately 120,836 people.

The agency submitting the proposal for the project investment form is public investment, the division of the project into components is carried out when approving the investment project. The preliminary total investment of the Project is about 1,713,548 billion VND (about 67.34 billion USD).

Reviewing this content, Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said about the satisfaction of the criteria for national important projects and the Project dossier, the Project is suitable for the criteria for national important projects and basically meets the requirements for the Project dossier according to the provisions of the Law on Public Investment.

There are suggestions to supplement the proposal dossier to change the purpose of forest use to another purpose.

Regarding the necessity of the Project, the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee agrees on the necessity of investing in the Project with the political and legal bases and reasons stated in Submission No. 685/TTr-CP.

Regarding the scope, scale of investment and preliminary design options, there are suggestions to supplement and explain the comparison options to clarify the basis for choosing the route of the Project according to the Government's proposal, and at the same time clarify the route according to the principle of "as straight as possible", especially the section passing through Nam Dinh province, to ensure the effectiveness of the Project.

In addition, passenger stations in some localities are basically not located in urban centers, while to ensure maximum efficiency for the project, station locations must be conveniently arranged to attract the most passengers, so it is recommended to clarify the selection of station locations for the Project.

At the same time, it is recommended to clarify the plan to connect the high-speed railway line with the national railway network, urban railway and other transport systems; and to connect with the regional and international railway network.

At the meeting, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed to submit to the National Assembly for consideration the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project.

Concluding this content, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai said that this is a project of unprecedented scale in our country, with no precedent for implementation, and has been approved by competent authorities. This is also a project that affects many aspects of socio-economics, budget finance, and public debt in the context that Vietnam does not have technology, does not have human resources, and is not proactive in capital sources. Compared to the current budget situation, project investment capital mainly relies on borrowed capital.

Therefore, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly proposed that the Government accept the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the appraisal opinions to complete the project dossier, in which it is necessary to continue reviewing and calculating the total investment and the preliminary design plan to ensure savings and efficiency; supplementing the explanation of the comparison plans to clarify the basis for choosing the project route according to the Government's proposal; further assessing the rice growing area, the forest area to be converted, solutions to ensure the indicators on rice growing land and forest cover ratio that the competent authority has decided; assessing the project's impact on the environment; further studying the arrangement of the number of stations.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested carefully assessing factors affecting the project's progress to find solutions to basically complete the entire route by 2035; paying attention to land acquisition, compensation, resettlement support, investor selection, meeting technology, human resources, materials, and electricity needs during the construction, implementation, and exploitation of the project.

Regarding the capital source for project implementation, the total investment capital for the project is particularly large, including construction costs and operating and exploitation costs. Therefore, to ensure feasibility and national financial security, it is necessary to evaluate more carefully, considering the conditions in which the country is implementing many urgent and necessary infrastructure projects in the fields of transportation and energy to have solutions to control risks, especially avoiding risks due to failure to complete or put into use due to lack of capital, risks of budget imbalance in the medium term when debts due for payment and repayment are large, risks of over-dependence on foreign loans, affecting the financial and budgetary initiative of the country.

The National Assembly Standing Committee agreed that there should be outstanding and special policies to implement the project. However, to ensure feasibility and increase persuasiveness, it is recommended that the Government review the 19 policies to explain them more specifically, assess their impacts carefully, and only include in the resolution policies that are truly necessary and have little negative impacts, ensuring the mechanism for assigning and coordinating power control among agencies and units, and the mechanism for inspection and supervision, to avoid loss, waste, and negativity. Paying attention to the policies, the reviewing agency suggested that there should be no amendments or careful assessment of impacts when prescribing.

At the same time, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly proposed to review and complete related standards and norms, ensuring consistency and uniformity in implementation. Further calculations and explanations on technology and technology transfer should be made, ensuring mastery of railway technology and materials.

Conditions to be ensured during the construction process and the process of putting the project into operation and use as well as prioritizing the development of supporting industries and railway industry.

Clarify the basis for calculating and forecasting the project's transportation needs; review and further explain the project's socio-economic and financial efficiency.

Carefully study the opinions of the examining agency to complete the project dossier and draft resolution on conformity with relevant planning and plans.

The National Assembly Standing Committee requested the Government to accept comments on revising and completing the project dossier and draft Resolution on investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project to send to the National Assembly, and the Economic Committee to complete the appraisal report to submit to the National Assembly for consideration.