Calling for private capital, the State must be a 'big player'

Cai Lay BOT toll station on National Highway 1 through Tien Giang province was once a hot spot of public opinion, but the fault did not lie with the BOT investor - Photo: M.TRUONG

Hundreds of thousands of billions of dong were poured into road expansion. But immediately after that came a period of "crisis" when society was allergic to BOT, many projects had difficulty collecting tolls, financial plans failed, bad debts... Then it was the turn of businesses to be afraid and stay away from infrastructure projects.

When the national highways were overloaded, the State called for investment in highways, but no private sector participated. The State had to turn its capital to build highways. This vicious cycle has lost the opportunity to exploit resources to develop the country.

When the private sector turns its back on investment opportunities in infrastructure projects, it is a quiet space for private resources.

Although the State has since renewed the investment environment, called for public-private partnership (PPP) and the law on this issue has been completed, the private sector is still in no hurry.

Faced with the country's development requirements, the private sector cannot stand aside but must step in, even with a key and important role. However, if we want the private sector to participate in infrastructure, we must improve the investment environment in this field.

Although few people admit it, for businesses investing in infrastructure, the investment environment in previous years was not stable.

Many projects are invited for investment by the locality, through procedural steps, even the People's Council issues a resolution to implement, but when there is a reaction, no one has a voice to explain or protect, leaving the business to suffer.

Then the commitments between the government and businesses were clearly stated in the contract but the partners did not fulfill them, the businesses did not know who to complain to...

The past is past, there are many valuable lessons to improve the investment environment in infrastructure, removing the "potholes" on the red carpet calling for and attracting investment.

The biggest lesson is that the State must be a "big player" in the infrastructure investment market. How big? The State must be the one to set the agenda, look far ahead, and weigh and measure the economic and social effectiveness of the project.

This is very important because infrastructure projects have a lifespan of dozens or even several decades, so it must be calculated harmoniously not only in the short term but also in the long term.

That "big player" must know how to harmonize the interests of all parties: the State, the project enterprise and the people. How to ensure that enterprises investing in infrastructure do not enjoy abnormal benefits.

How to make the payment level when using infrastructure suitable for people's ability. How to make investing enterprises compete fairly with each other, without blue and red troops, group interests, backyards...

And once it is a "big player", the State must comply with its commitments. It cannot, because of negligence, make up for lost profits by forcing businesses to invest in infrastructure. Because then the parties: the State and businesses are equal partners before the law.

Private enterprises must also invest in a healthy competitive environment, comply with the law, not lobby, and not rely on power to get projects.

Only then, when something happens, when they feel pressured or when their State partner does not comply with their commitments, businesses can confidently and boldly rely on the law to protect them.

Calling for private capital into the economy, especially infrastructure, requires a new environment, where "big players" and "transparent private sector" both follow the rules of the game, and all must be fair to each other. Then, the people - the beneficiaries of infrastructure projects - will support.

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