Common points of 4 trillion-dollar mega-projects under the monitoring of the Central Steering Committee

The Standing Committee of the Central Steering Committee on preventing and combating corruption, waste and negativity agreed to put 4 cases and incidents with signs of waste under monitoring and direction, namely the project of the Operation and Trade Center Building, Vietnam Cement Corporation (Vicem); the Hoi Xuan Hydropower Project, Thanh Hoa Province; the project to build the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Sub-project 2 (Lim - Pha Lai), part of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project.

These are all projects that have lasted many years, are unfinished, only partially completed, and show signs of serious waste.

So, what is the investment scale of these projects?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs building is only partially operational.

The investment project to build the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, invested by the Project Management Board - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was approved in July 2009 with a total capital of 3,484 billion VND.

This is a group A project, a special-grade project. Construction area 16,282m2, total floor area 126,282m2 (excluding outdoor areas such as parking areas, lawns, sports and entertainment areas and internal roads).

The new headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being built in Me Tri ward (Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi). Photo: Hoang Ha

Due to many reasons, such as fluctuations in prices of construction materials, labor wages, exchange rates..., in July 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a Decision approving the total adjusted investment of the project phase 1 to nearly 4,023 billion VND.

In the document giving opinions on the request for a special mechanism to resolve the difficulties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters project, the Ministry of Construction stated that the special mechanism for the project is only to handle the situation and cannot thoroughly resolve and remove the current difficulties and obstacles of the project.

"If these mechanisms are rigidly applied as proposed in the submission to all contracts, it will lead to inadequacies in project management, construction investment cost management, causing waste, loss of assets, and reducing investment efficiency" - the document of the Ministry of Construction stated.

Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project "froze" for a decade

These dead-end bridges belong to the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project with a total investment of 7,665 billion VND.

The project started in 2005 and was expected to be completed in early 2012, but in 2011 the project was forced to delay its progress.

This project was suspended according to Resolution No. 11 dated February 24, 2011 of the Government on key solutions to control inflation, stabilize the macro economy, and ensure social security. However, some projects have been built, including the above mentioned railway bridges. At the bridges, the foundations are bare, the steel is rusty.

Bridges under construction for 20 years still not finished. Photo: Bao Khanh

A representative of the Department of Transport of Bac Ninh province said that these bridges run through Bac Ninh province but are part of a project invested in by the Ministry of Transport and implemented for many years.

The Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) is studying to adjust the project's pre-feasibility study report as a basis for investment implementation in the 2026-2030 period.

Hydropower plant worth over 3,300 billion in Thanh Hoa not completed after a decade

Started in 2010, Hoi Xuan Hydropower Project (Quan Hoa, Thanh Hoa) has a total investment of over 3,320 billion VND, a capacity of 102 MW, including three units with an average annual electricity output of over 432 million kWh. The project is invested by Hoi Xuan Vneco Power Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company.

According to the plan, in October 2012, Hoi Xuan Hydropower Plant will block the flow for the first time, at the end of 2013 block the flow for the second time, and by mid-2014, the reservoir will store water and generate electricity from unit number one in September of the same year.

The project was guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance for a foreign loan worth 125 million USD in 2015.

However, from 2014 to 2018, the project stagnated and was only partially implemented. Since 2018, the project has been "shelved" due to lack of capital.

Abandoned Hoi Xuan hydropower project. Photo: Le Duong

According to the leaders of Quan Hoa district, the reservoir area of ​​the Hoi Xuan hydropower project has more than 655 hectares of land affected, belonging to Mai Chau district (Hoa Binh) and Quan Hoa district (Thanh Hoa). Nearly 1,900 households in these two localities are affected, of which about 500 households have to be resettled to new places.

Faced with the above situation, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province has repeatedly proposed to ministries and branches to soon have solutions to remove obstacles so that the project can restart, so that people can stabilize their lives and production.

The report of the National Steering Committee on Power Development in March 2023 also mentioned this project. At that time, the main construction items reached about 98% of the volume. VNECO Hoi Xuan Power Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company resumed construction in November 2022, including the following tasks: completing the factory architecture and constructing a traffic bridge over the spillway.

The project investor then committed to completing and operating the factory by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

But in a later document, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said: The Ministry has received 3 reports from VNECO Hoi Xuan. However, the company has only proposed a financial plan to supplement capital to continue implementing the remaining work of the project. The financial plan is being reviewed and appraised by the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and up to the time of reporting, the loan has not yet been disbursed so that the investor has funds to implement the project.

Billion-dollar building “left bare” in the middle of Hanoi’s prime land

Vicem Operation and Trading Center Project, invested in 2010, with total adjusted capital of over 2,743 billion VND. The tower has a scale of 31 floors above ground and 4 basements.

The goal is to build the headquarters of Vicem, its member units, conference halls and commercial services. The project started in May 2011; by August 2015, the rough construction was completed.

The Vicem Operations and Trading Center project tower is "bare bones" in the middle of Hanoi's prime land. Photo: Nam Khanh

Notably, the Vicem Operations and Transaction Center Project Tower at Lot 10E6 Cau Giay New Urban Area (Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi) has a prime location on Ring Road 3 and next to Keangnam Building.

However, since 2015, the project has been "shelved", lying "barely there" in the middle of Hanoi's prime land.

After a period of focused investigation and verification of the violations that occurred, the investigation agency discovered that the project had many violations that caused especially serious loss and waste of state assets.

On March 2, 2025, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency issued a decision to prosecute the criminal case of "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste" occurring at Vicem and related units.

The Investigation Police Agency has also prosecuted and applied preventive and search measures against four people: Le Van Chung (former Chairman of the Board of Members); Nguyen Ngoc Anh (former General Director); Du Ngoc Long (former Director of the Project Management Board); Hoang Ngoc Hieu (former Head of the Appraisal Department of Vietnam Cement Corporation) for the crime of "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste".

In early March this year, Vietnam Cement Corporation officially restarted construction of the Vicem Operations and Trading Center tower after being abandoned for a decade, expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2026.

Auditing 12 housing and urban area projects in 5 key districts of Hanoi The State Audit will audit the 2024 local budget of Hanoi and compliance with regulations on land management and use for 12 housing and urban area projects in 5 districts of Hanoi.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/diem-chung-cua-4-dai-du-an-nghin-ty-vao-dien-theo-doi-cua-ban-chi-dao-tu-2384554.html