Proposal to expand Ho Chi Minh City expressways.

Researching options for investors to bear the land clearance costs.

The Ministry of Transport has recently sent a document to the Government Office providing feedback on the investment plan for expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway project.

A section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Transport agreed with the investment scope proposed by the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises and VEC, which is from the Ring Road 2 intersection to the intersection with the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway (from Km 4+000 to Km 25+920).

The Ministry of Transport also agreed with the investment scale proposed by the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises and VEC: the section from Ring Road 2 to Ring Road 3 will have 8 lanes; the section from Ring Road 3 to the intersection with the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway will have 10 lanes; and the new Long Thanh bridge will have the same scale as the current bridge.

"The scale of investment as proposed above is consistent with the approved road network plan," the Ministry of Transport stated.

Regarding the investment model, the Ministry of Transport supports the option of VEC mobilizing 100% of the capital to implement the expansion and organize the operation and exploitation, and collect tolls to recover the investment for the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section, as this is appropriate under the Investment Law.

Specifically, the proposal to use central/local government budgets for land clearance is inconsistent with the Investment Law (investors are responsible for paying land clearance costs).

"If state budget funds are used for land clearance, the project will have to follow the procedures under the Law on Public Investment and will encounter many obstacles. The State Capital Management Committee at enterprises and VEC need to study the use of capital mobilized by VEC to carry out land clearance," the Ministry of Transport proposed.

Regarding the financial mechanism for the expansion of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway section, the Ministry of Transport believes that considering and allowing VEC to freeze and postpone the repayment of principal and interest on the construction bonds advanced by the Ministry of Finance, as proposed by the State Capital Management Committee at enterprises, is necessary.

In addition, in order to raise 9,400 billion VND in commercial loans, VEC needs to promptly complete the procedures to submit to the competent authorities for consideration and decision on increasing its charter capital accordingly.

Given that the Ministry of Transport's public investment capital for the 2021-2025 period is no longer available, and that using public investment capital from the 2026-2030 period would make it impossible to complete the project and meet the operational schedule of Long Thanh International Airport, the Ministry of Transport also supports the investment plan to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section proposed by the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises.

Nearly 15 trillion VND invested in expansion.

Previously, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises (State Capital Management Committee) reported to the Government leaders on the investment plan to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway project.

According to the proposed plan, the project scope will expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section over a total length of nearly 22km.

The starting point is at Km 4+000 (Ring Road 2 intersection) in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City.

The endpoint is at Km 25+920 (Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway interchange) in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province.

In terms of scale, the section from the Ring Road 2 intersection to the Ring Road 3 intersection (Km 4+00 to Km 8+770) is planned to have 8 lanes.

The section from the Ring Road 3 intersection to the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway intersection (Km 8+770 to Km 25+920) will be developed with 10 lanes according to the plan.

The Long Thanh Bridge project involves the construction of a new bridge section of similar scale to the existing bridge, with traffic organized to operate on a scale of 10 lanes (with no emergency lane provided, and traffic organized on each side with 5 lanes, each 3.5m wide).

With the above plan, the total investment for the project is approximately over 14,955 billion VND (including interest on loans during the construction period).

Of this, equity capital is over VND 5,555 billion (37%), and commercial loans are VND 9,400 billion (63%).

Ensure that resources are available for project implementation, and that the proposed construction investment items enable the State-owned enterprise (VEC) to mobilize 100% of the capital for implementation and to organize management, operation, and toll collection for capital recovery (implementing the investment plan according to the Investment Law).

The land clearance and compensation item (over 900 billion VND) will utilize central/local budgets (Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai), and it is proposed that the Prime Minister separate it into an independent project and assign it to the local authorities for implementation under the public investment model.

According to the Capital Management Committee, VEC is currently allocating over 7,547 billion VND from its own legal capital sources to replace public investment capital for the remaining items of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway construction project.

Therefore, to ensure the ability to mobilize equity capital for project investment, based on VEC's proposal, the Capital Management Committee recommends that the competent authority consider and allow VEC to freeze and postpone the repayment of principal and interest related to the Ministry of Finance bonds that have been advanced for debt repayment.

If the Prime Minister approves the deferral and postponement of principal and interest payments related to the bonds that the Ministry of Finance has already advanced to repay, the cumulative after-tax cash flow for all 5 projects will remain positive (the lowest positive figure in 2026 is VND 669 billion). VEC is expected to allocate approximately VND 5,555 billion to invest in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh project according to the proposed plan.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/de-xuat-mo-rong-cao-toc-tphcm-long-thanh-len-8-10-lan-xe-bo-gtvt-noi-gi-192240822194203527.htm