'Combine' sections of Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 4 into a large project, request special mechanism?

The above plan was proposed by Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong at a recent working session with leaders of the Ministry of Transport and related localities in the implementation plan of Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4.

This is a route planned since 2011, more than 200 km long, passing through 5 provinces and cities: Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An and Ba Ria - Vung Tau. In the first phase, the route was cleared once with a complete scale and built in advance with 4 expressway lanes, 2 emergency lanes, with a total investment of more than 105,000 billion VND.

Currently, the project has been assigned by the Government to the localities as competent authorities to implement the section passing through the area in the form of public-private partnership (PPP). Of which, the section passing through Long An is more than 78 km long, Binh Duong 47.5 km, Dong Nai 45.6 km, Ba Ria - Vung Tau 18.1 km, Ho Chi Minh City about 17.3 km.

According to Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong, the main route of Ring Road 4 will be invested in the form of PPP, BOT contract (build - operate - transfer). If it is divided into component projects by each locality, it will be difficult to synchronize during the implementation process. Therefore, the implementation of the route can be studied in the direction of combining the main part of the expressway into 1 or 2 projects for better suitability. When implementing, a locality can act as a general coordinating agency. This is considered a solution that is easy to call for investment, convenient for operation, and toll collection to recover capital when the project is completed.

For example, the cost of building the beltway is currently estimated at more than 47,000 billion VND, when implementing the budget participation is about 50% or a higher rate is proposed. The remaining part of about 25,000 billion VND calling for investors will be relatively feasible. The compensation and site clearance part can be divided among provinces and cities to implement. Depending on the capital balance capacity of each locality, the central budget will be proposed for support. The above method is similar to the Beltway 4 project in the Capital region.

Binh Duong province is implementing investment procedures for Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4, expected to start construction this year.

Previously, in the report on the research and implementation of Ring Road 4 at the end of last year, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport said that localities basically agreed on the investment scale of the first phase of the route. However, the road width proposed by the provinces and cities is not yet consistent, so further discussion is needed to reach an agreement. On the other hand, the planned capital allocation for the project is also facing difficulties, so localities proposed that the central budget support Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau by 50%, similar to Ring Road 3. In Long An alone, the central budget is proposed to support 90%.

To increase attractiveness and attract investors, localities have proposed a special policy for implementing Belt Road 4, allowing the proportion of state capital participating in the project to exceed 50% of the total investment.

It is expected that in the first quarter of this year, the project's pre-feasibility study report will be completed as a basis for submission to the Government and the National Assembly for consideration and approval. After selecting an investor, the project is expected to start construction in 2025 and be completed within 3 years.

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