Welcoming the "decade" of railways, with a total investment of 150 billion USD
As planned, the Ministry of Transport has submitted to the Government a draft document to the National Assembly for consideration and approval of the investment policy for the North-South High-Speed Railway Project after receiving and explaining the opinions of the State Appraisal Council.
The above progress milestone must be completed so that the North-South High-Speed Railway Project can be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval of the investment policy at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, opening on the morning of Monday, October 21, 2024.
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In the past few days, project consulting units, appraisal consultants, interdisciplinary appraisal expert teams, members of the State Appraisal Council, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and related ministries, branches and localities have worked very urgently, with a high sense of responsibility to be able to complete on schedule and with quality the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South High-Speed Railway Project.
With the mindset that this is the largest infrastructure project in terms of scale and technological complexity ever, with a profound impact on long-term socio-economic life, the contents of the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study Report will certainly receive special attention from National Assembly delegates.
This interest stems from the fact that the North-South high-speed railway has a particularly important strategic significance in terms of economics, politics, society, national defense, security, and international integration. This will also be one of the iconic infrastructure projects in the new era - the era of national development.
World experience shows that when deciding to invest in high-speed railways, countries consider the overall efficiency that the project brings to the entire economy. Practice has shown that after the Beijing - Shanghai (China) route was put into operation in 2012, the GRDP of localities along the route doubled after 10 years. This is also a green mode of transport, contributing to Vietnam's commitment to reduce net emissions to "0" by 2050.
In addition to concretizing the Party's major policy on infrastructure breakthroughs and railway development, investing in the high-speed railway line on the North-South axis will be a "boost" for economic development. This is reflected in aspects such as enhancing the country's potential and position; meeting transportation needs, restructuring transportation, maximizing the advantages of each mode; opening up new economic development space, new resources through effective exploitation of land funds...
If implemented according to the set objectives, this project will create a great driving force to help develop the construction industry, construction materials; develop tourism, services, urban areas; reduce environmental pollution; reduce traffic accidents; increase economic competitiveness; create millions of jobs... During the construction period, it is estimated to contribute to increasing the average GDP of the whole country by about 0.97 percentage points/year.
If we include the upgrading of the Thong Nhat railway, the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho railway, three railway lines connecting to China, and the construction of 580 km of urban railway in Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, the period 2025 - 2035, with a total investment of nearly 150 billion USD, will be the "decade" of railways, following the boom in expressway development that started from 2020 to present.
With the huge scale of work, Vietnam has no experience, so these are big and difficult tasks, requiring a high level of consensus in the political system and social consensus during the implementation process. In particular, it is necessary to innovate the way of thinking and doing, with the viewpoint of "acting decisively, with focus and key points; clearly assigning people, progress, time, results and products; mobilizing all resources, in which the human resource factor is decisive, mobilizing the entire political system to participate; doing while learning from experience, gradually expanding; not being hasty, not being perfectionist; with the spirit of only discussing, not retreating; preparation work must be strict and thorough, but implementation must be fast and effective".
Due to the limited time available, the authorities must now start building the foundations to both meet the feasibility of the implementation progress and ensure investment efficiency. These foundations include the Project on Developing the Vietnamese Construction Industry, including the railway sector, with a focus on soon forming a number of capable enterprises to participate in investing in the development of construction materials, construction technology, and construction mechanics; the Project on Developing High-Quality Human Resources for the Construction Industry and Information Technology in the Railway Infrastructure Sector, etc.
This is also the condition for Vietnam to maximize its independence and self-reliance; to receive the world's technological quintessence. This is also an opportunity for domestic enterprises to participate in large, technically complex infrastructure projects, of which the North-South High-Speed Railway Project is a typical example.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/don-thap-ky-cua-duong-sat-voi-tong-von-dau-tu-150-ty-usd-d227708.html
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