Although highly approving of the investment policy to build a high-speed railway on the North-South axis, many opinions at the review session of the National Assembly's Economic Committee said that it is necessary to clarify the ability to meet the huge capital requirement for this project.
Although highly approving of the investment policy to build a high-speed railway on the North-South axis, many opinions at the review session of the National Assembly's Economic Committee said that it is necessary to clarify the ability to meet the huge capital requirement for this project.
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| Perspective of high-speed railway station on the North-South axis |
In order to submit to the National Assembly at the ongoing 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, the National Assembly's Economic Committee examined the investment policy of the North-South High-Speed Railway Construction Project on the evening of November 4.
According to the Government's proposal, this is a public investment project, with a preliminary total investment of about VND 1,713,548 billion (equivalent to USD 67.34 billion). Capital from the central budget is arranged in medium-term periods, capital contributed by localities, mobilized capital with low costs and few constraints...
During the construction and operation process, businesses will be called upon to invest in service and commercial areas at the stations and invest in additional vehicles for exploitation when needed, said Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy.
There are still many concerns from the name, route direction to technology, total investment..., but opinions at the meeting all agreed on the necessity of investing in the project with the spirit of "only discussing forward, not backward".
Delegate Nguyen Van Than, member of the Economic Committee, said that there is absolutely no need to consider making a profit here and suggested promoting the role of domestic private enterprises, because many private enterprises can participate in this project. "Private enterprises will do it cheaper than state-owned enterprises and FDI enterprises, so the Government must assign tasks right now, so that enterprises can prepare resources and train staff," Mr. Than commented.
Regarding capital, Mr. Than said that there is still a lot of money in the people, if the Government issues bonds, people will be willing to spend money. "Besides the capital in the people, the second source of capital is bank financing. If the Government guarantees, banks will also be ready to lend immediately," Mr. Than said.
Also on the ability to balance capital, delegate Tran Van Khai, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, stated that the investment project is mainly from the budget, while the budget is simultaneously having to balance many other important national projects. "There must be a backup plan to do it thoroughly," Mr. Khai suggested.
According to delegate Trinh Xuan An, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Defense and Security Committee, the resource of 67 billion USD is very large, therefore, it needs to be explained very clearly so that the National Assembly delegates can decide.
It is expected that tonight (November 6), the National Assembly Standing Committee will give its opinion on the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project. According to the program of the 8th Session, on the morning of November 13, after listening to the presentation and the verification report, the National Assembly will discuss in groups the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project.
The discussion session in the hall took place on the afternoon of November 20 and the morning of November 30, the National Assembly will vote to approve before closing the 8th Session.
Reporting further on capital allocation, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Do Thanh Trung said that for this project, the Government proposed to allow the implementation of 3 specific mechanisms to mobilize resources. If we simply rely on public investment capital, especially medium-term public investment capital, it will be very difficult to balance and there will be many difficulties, even if we are given priority.
Deputy Minister Do Thanh Trung also said that for the 2021-2025 medium-term public investment period, the Government will immediately arrange more than VND538 billion, without having to let the National Assembly supplement it, to immediately prepare for the project. In the 2026-2030 period, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is also preparing to submit to the Government for submission to the National Assembly for approval of medium-term public investment capital, which will certainly include a balance for this project.
“New issues arising, such as how energy will be generated if we invest in railways, have also been calculated,” said Deputy Minister Do Thanh Trung.
Regarding energy, Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy informed that the Government is studying to submit a plan, including calculating investment in nuclear power to ensure energy. This is the base energy, must be guaranteed 24/24h, cannot be unstable.
Regarding the delegate's proposal on project risk management, Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy said that he had anticipated risks in implementation, site clearance, human resources, contractors, consultants... to find solutions.
In his concluding remarks, Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh stated that opinions at the meeting were unanimous on the necessity of investment, speed and scale of the project.
Regarding capital, Mr. Thanh cited a report from the Finance and Budget Committee saying that the capital for this project alone is equal to 114% of the medium-term public investment for the 2021-2025 period from the central budget, 5 times the total investment of Long Thanh International Airport, and 3 times the investment for 5,000 km of expressway.
Mr. Thanh requested the Government to report to the National Assembly delegates on the ability to meet capital needs and the safety of national finances.
Mr. Vu Hong Thanh also cited the State Audit's opinion that the report did not clearly state the basis for the preliminary calculation of the total investment, therefore, the State Audit did not have a basis to comment on the preliminary total investment, project management costs, consulting costs and other costs of about 12%... Mr. Thanh also requested to explain and clarify this issue to the National Assembly delegates.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/lam-ro-kha-nang-dap-ung-von-cho-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-d229248.html
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