On the afternoon of October 1, the Ministry of Transport held a press conference to inform about the North-South high-speed railway investment project.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy assessed that this is a special, large-scale and unprecedented project. This project has received special attention from the Party and the State. The research process from 2006 to now has lasted 18 years. Of which, 3 issues: resources, speed, transport capacity (carrying only passengers or combined with transporting goods) have received much attention...
Answering the question of using mobilized capital to implement the project, in case of having to borrow foreign capital, is there any obligation with the lenders?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy affirmed that according to the Law on Public Investment, we use 100% of the budget capital to do this. According to the Law on State Budget, there are many sources of capital, the balance of revenue and expenditure is surplus, if the revenue is not enough, we can issue domestic bonds (Government or foreign bonds).
"With the spirit of independence, self-reliance, self-reliance and self-reliance, the Politburo decided not to depend on foreign countries, because borrowing from any country would be binding.
Therefore, we determine that public investment uses domestic capital sources. The Government will have a plan to mobilize domestic capital sources and, depending on the balance, can issue domestic bonds or borrow from abroad.
In the case of foreign loans, there must be incentives, few constraints and the biggest condition is to transfer technology to Vietnam," Mr. Huy informed.
Regarding concerns that the introduction of high-speed railways that prioritize passenger transport will directly compete with aviation, Mr. Huy said that currently, we are having to make efforts to maintain flights of less than 500km (which are often unprofitable). Airlines are using profits from long flights to offset losses from short flights.
Accordingly, for passenger transport, short distance (under 150km) is dominated by road, medium distance (150 - 800km) high-speed rail is completely dominant, long distance (over 800km) market share mainly belongs to aviation and partly to high-speed rail.
Therefore, Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy said that high-speed railway will contribute to restructuring the market share of all types of transportation in a sustainable manner. High-speed railway will not eliminate air transport but these two types of transportation will complement each other.
Speaking further with VietNamNet on the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Vu Hong Phuong, Director of the Railway Project Management Board (Ministry of Transport) said that according to the research proposal, the project will use public investment capital.
According to the direction of the Party and Government, the project needs to be started soon and completed before 2035. The Ministry of Transport, with the spirit of striving to only discuss and not retreat, overcoming the sun and rain to implement the direction of the Government, is determined to start the project in 2027 and complete it before 2035.
Total project investment is about more than 67 billion USD
According to the proposed research consultant, the North-South high-speed railway has a design speed of 350 km/h, a length of about 1,541 km, double track, 1,435 mm gauge, and electrification.
The route will start from Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi), pass through 20 provinces and cities and end at Thu Thiem station (HCMC), directly connecting two special-class urban areas with a population of up to about 10 million people, 17 class 1 urban areas with a population of 500,000 people or more, not to mention smaller urban areas.
Along the entire route, there are 23 passenger stations with an average distance of 50 - 70 km, 5 freight stations connected to cargo hubs, serving well national defense logistics when needed.
The total investment of the project is about more than 67 billion USD, expected to use state budget capital allocated in the medium-term public investment plan. The capital allocation period is about 12 years, each year an average of about 5.6 billion USD.
The project preparation process has studied two investment options including:
The investment plan for the entire route will be basically completed in 2035. Of which, the Hanoi - Vinh and Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh City sections will start construction in 2027, the Vinh - Nha Trang section will start construction in 2028 and will be completed in 2035.
The investment plan is divided into two phases, with the entire route basically completed by 2040. Of which, the Hanoi - Vinh and Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh City sections will start construction in 2027 and be completed in 2030; the Vinh - Nha Trang section will start construction in 2030 and be completed in 2040.
The Ministry of Transport emphasized that the evaluation of the options shows that the advantage of the investment option for the entire route is to promote efficiency and attract all passengers traveling on all sections as soon as it is put into operation. The evaluation of economic indicators shows that this option is better than the investment phase option.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/dieu-kien-huy-dong-von-lam-du-an-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-2327844.html
Comment (0)