New direction of Government leaders on Cam Lo Expressway Project

New direction of Government leaders on Cam Lo - Lao Bao Expressway Project

The Cam Lo - Lao Bao expressway project is 56 km long, with a total investment of 13,952 billion VND. The People's Committee of Quang Tri province has proposed to invest in a 4-lane project with a roadbed width of 24.75 m and a design speed of 100 km/h.

Illustration photo.

The Government Office has just issued Official Dispatch No. 5550/VPCP – CN to the Ministers of Planning and Investment, Transport, Finance, Justice and the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Tri province conveying the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on the investment in the construction of the Cam Lo - Lao Bao expressway, Quang Tri province under the PPP method.

Accordingly, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the People's Committee of Quang Tri province to receive opinions from the Ministry of Planning and Investment; study and carefully review the entire Cam Lo - Lao Bao Expressway Construction Investment Project, clarifying its conformity with the planning, investment necessity, capital sources and capital balancing ability, feasibility and conditions for project investment under the PPP method; on that basis, coordinate with the Ministry of Transport and relevant agencies to study and propose project investment options, consider options for selecting appropriate competent authorities, and report to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

Previously, in an official dispatch sent to the Government Office in July 2024, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that in Submission No. 18/TTr-UBND dated February 27, 2024, the People's Committee of Quang Tri province based on Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW dated November 3, 2022 of the Politburo on socio-economic development and ensuring national defense and security in the North Central and Central Coast regions to 2030, with a vision to 2050 and Resolution No. 168/NQ-CP dated December 29, 2022 of the Government on the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW to determine the necessity of investing in the Cam Lo - Lao Bao Expressway Project under the PPP investment method.

However, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that the People's Committee of Quang Tri province has not yet clarified the advantages of the PPP investment method compared to other investment forms and the current status of the existing National Highway 9, parallel to the Cam Lo - Lao Bao expressway in Quang Tri province.

In addition, according to the plan proposed by the People's Committee of Quang Tri province, the project only connects to the Cam Lo - La Son expressway, not ensuring connection to National Highway 1.

“To ensure the effective exploitation of the connection of traffic systems, the People's Committee of Quang Tri province is requested to clarify the connection plan from the Cam Lo - La Son expressway intersection with National Highway 1 to connect to My Thuy seaport in the future and other seaports,” official dispatch No. 5568 stated.

One of the other sticking points in the investment plan for the Cam Lo - Lao Bao Expressway Project proposed by the People's Committee of Quang Tri province is the feasibility of investment under the PPP investment method.

According to the latest updated report of the People's Committee of Quang Tri province in Official Dispatch No. 2459/UBND-KT dated May 27, 2024, the Project has a total investment of VND 13,952 billion, of which the state budget capital participating in the project is VND 9,766 billion (accounting for 70%).

The Ministry of Planning and Investment assessed that the payback period of up to 28.7 years will make it difficult for the project to mobilize capital from investors and credit institutions. Meanwhile, the total investment has not yet calculated investment items such as: intelligent traffic system, rest stops, interest during construction..., so it will likely prolong the payback period for investors.

In addition, if National Highway 9 (according to Planning No. 1454, starting at Cua Viet Port, ending at Lao Bao Border Gate, 118km long, level II, III scale, 2-4 lanes) is invested in upgrading and expanding in the coming period (2026-2030) in the form of public investment, traffic volume on the route will be reduced.

"Therefore, in addition to the political and legal bases, the People's Committee of Quang Tri province needs to study and carefully consider the practical basis to be able to properly assess the feasibility of the project investment", the Ministry of Planning and Investment stated its opinion.

In addition, the national 5-year financial budget plan and the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 have not yet been developed, so there is no basis to determine the ability to balance the state budget for the Project.

In case the local budget commits to arranging 1,000 billion VND for the Project, the central budget capital needed to support the Project in the 2026-2030 period is 8,766 billion VND.

According to Decision No. 1535/QD-TTg dated September 15, 2021 of the Prime Minister on assigning the medium-term public investment plan of state budget capital to Quang Tri province, the total state budget capital is 14,567,609 billion VND, of which the central budget capital is 7,491,968 billion VND (domestic capital 5,568,168 billion VND; foreign capital 1,932.8 billion VND).

Therefore, the proposal of the Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee to receive central budget support of VND 8,766 billion, 1.5 times higher than the total central budget capital (domestic capital) for the 2021 - 2025 period of the province, is not feasible, and in the 2026 - 2030 period, there will be no more resources to implement other important tasks and projects of the province.

Regarding the authority to approve the investment policy of the Project, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that according to the provisions of Article 69 of the PPP Law, the proportion of state capital participating in a PPP project is not more than 50% of the total investment. According to the proposal of the People's Committee of Quang Tri province, state capital participation is over 70% of the total investment.

Therefore, according to the provisions of Point d, Clause 1, Article 12 of the PPP Law, the Project is under the authority of the National Assembly to decide on investment policy. For the above reasons, the Ministry of Planning and Investment proposes that the Prime Minister assign the People's Committee of Quang Tri province to study and carefully review the entire Project, clarifying the conformity with planning, investment necessity, capital sources and capital balancing ability, feasibility and conditions for project investment under the PPP method.

“On that basis, the People's Committee of Quang Tri province will coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to study and propose project investment options, consider options for selecting appropriate competent authorities, and report to the Prime Minister,” the leader of the Ministry of Planning and Investment recommended.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/chi-dao-moi-cua-lanh-dao-chinh-phu-ve-du-an-cao-toc-cam-lo---lao-bao-d221692.html