Unblocking the investment mechanism for highway rest stops

Many new regulations help to unify the mechanism to socialize resources to invest in highway rest stops, overcoming current shortcomings.

Many highways do not have rest stops.

According to the plan by 2030, the whole country will have 5,000km of expressways, with a vision to 2050, the whole country will have 41 expressways, with a total length of about 9,014km. By the end of 2024, the whole country will have put into operation about more than 2,000km.

The North-South Expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Khanh Hoa is about 380km long, however, there are only rest stops being exploited in the Long Thanh - Dau Giay section and some temporary rest stops. Photo: Ta Hai.

However, many highways currently lack rest stops, leaving people and drivers traveling long distances without a place to rest or use the restroom.

The North-South expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Khanh Hoa is about 380km long, however, there is only one rest stop being operated at the Long Thanh - Dau Giay section and a number of temporary rest stops.

Similarly, the entire 206km North-South expressway section passing through Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An to Ha Tinh only has temporary rest stops.

According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Huy, Deputy Director of Vietnam Expressway Administration, the reason is limited investment capital.

The North-South Expressway component projects in phase 1 are divided into investment phases with 4 limited lanes. The rest stop project is separated into a separate project to be invested in the form of socialization, instead of using budget capital.

In addition, due to the fact that the legal regulations of the previous period on investment, business and exploitation of rest stops were not complete and clear, the implementation of investment in the form of socialization encountered many difficulties.

Investors will be proactive

Mr. Huy said that in Decree 165/2024 just issued by the Government, many new regulations have helped to unify the mechanism.

Two rest stops on the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressway are urgently constructing essential items to serve people during the 2025 Lunar New Year.

Specifically, the decree stipulates that rest stops are a part of highway construction investment projects invested under the public-private partnership (PPP) method.

The total investment of the highway project includes the cost of site clearance for rest stops but does not include construction investment costs.

Investors are not reimbursed for the investment costs of building rest stops. The expressway financial plan does not include revenue and investment costs for building, operating, and exploiting rest stops.

Thus, with BOT highway projects, the State has assigned investment enterprises to proactively build rest stops to ensure synchronization with the highway when put into operation.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Chung, Chairman of the Association of Transport Construction Investors, acknowledged that this will save investment costs from the budget.

Furthermore, businesses will promote creativity from architectural space, operations combined with promoting local products and culture.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Huy said that in the context of public investment capital having to be spent on highway development, the State does not spend money on projects that can attract investment.

The new decree allows the use of public investment capital to clear and level the land, handing over clean land to investors to make it easier to attract investors.

The cost of building the station is also not included in the total investment of the highway project.

If included in the total investment of the expressway project, tolls will have to be collected to recover capital, while rest stops are service, business and profit-making facilities, so they can recover capital on their own.

Bidding to select investors

In order to have a basis for organizing and selecting investors to implement rest stops, in early 2023, the Ministry of Transport issued Circular No. 01/2023 guiding the preparation, approval and publication of project lists; methods and criteria for evaluating bidding documents and proposal documents in bidding to select investors for rest stops.

In June 2023, the Vietnam Expressway Administration issued a decision approving the results of selecting investors for the expressway rest stop invested by the budget, which is the Project to invest in the construction and operation of the Km 144+560 rest stop under the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet component project on the North - South expressway.

Accordingly, the FutaBusLines - Thanh Hiep Phat Joint Venture won the bid. FutaBusLines Company, the leader of the joint venture, is considered a prestigious unit with many years of experience in the transportation and logistics industry, along with a system of rest stops and transit stations in many provinces and cities.

Since the beginning of 2024, the Ministry of Transport has directed the implementation of rest stops on highways.

The goal is that by the end of 2025, all rest stops of the new North-South expressway will be inaugurated; the expressway sections in phase 1 will be completed according to the plan and put into operation.

Regarding rest stops invested by the State budget, Decree 165/2024 guiding the Road Law clearly stipulates: Based on the location and scale of the approved rest stop, a bidding will be organized to select an investor to build the rest stop.

In case the bidding fails to select an investor, the rest stop will be invested with budget money.

To date, the selection of investors for 8 rest stops in the North-South Expressway component projects, phase 1, has been completed, and bidding is being organized for 13 stations in the component projects, phase 2.

The Expressway Administration has organized a bidding process to select investors who meet strict requirements on capacity, experience, and financial potential.

According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Huy, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Expressway Administration, after the end of the BOT expressway construction investment project contract, the investor will transfer all invested assets, including the rest stop items, to the State for management and operation in accordance with the law on management and use of public assets.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/khoi-thong-co-che-dau-tu-tram-dung-nghi-cao-toc-192250116225718611.htm