This afternoon, the National Assembly Standing Committee will give its opinion on the Government's submission on the pre-feasibility study report of the North-South Expressway Project, Western section, Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh.
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| The Standing Committee of the Economic Committee held an expanded meeting to review the project. Photo: Quochoi.vn |
There are opinions at the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee that allocating 1,500 billion VND from the reserve fund of the Central Budget Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021 - 2025 for the project is not feasible.
According to the 32nd session agenda, this afternoon (April 17), the National Assembly Standing Committee will give its opinion on the Government's submission on the pre-feasibility study report on the investment project to build the North-South Expressway in the West, Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) - Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc) section.
This is a national key project, with a preliminary total investment of about VND 25,540 billion, of which the State capital participation is about VND 12,770 billion. The Government also proposed to apply a number of special mechanisms and policies. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and decision on the investment policy of the project.
Proposal for commitment to responsibility
In the preliminary review, the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee agreed with the necessity of investing in the Project, stating that investing in the Project will gradually complete the expressway network according to the plan, opening up new development space for localities and strengthening regional connectivity in general and intra-regional connectivity in particular, creating momentum, spreading power, and facilitating connections with Long Thanh International Airport and Cai Mep - Thi Vai Port, serving the socio-economic development of the Central Highlands and Southeast regions, helping to strengthen national defense and security.
According to the pre-feasibility study report, the total preliminary investment of the Project is about 25,540 billion VND. Of which, compensation, support and resettlement costs (including the access road, overpass across the expressway): 4,639 billion VND; construction and equipment costs: 16,470 billion VND; project management, consulting and other costs: 1,236 billion VND; contingency costs: 2,300 billion VND; interest during construction: 895 billion VND. This level is determined based on reference construction costs according to investment rates of similar works with scale, nature and conditions in the Project area and compared with relevant regulations.
Regarding capital sources, the central budget capital is about 10,536.5 billion VND. Including: 1,500 billion VND from the reserve capital of the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021 - 2025; transferring 266.5 billion VND from the central budget to support localities; 8,770 billion VND from the source of increased revenue and savings on regular expenditures of the central budget in 2022.
Of which, 1,500 billion VND of central budget capital in the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021 - 2025 according to Resolution No. 29/2021/QH15 dated July 28, 2021 of the National Assembly to implement the Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh Expressway Project; up to now, the capital of 1,500 billion VND has been included in the reserve of the Medium-term Public Investment Plan of central budget capital for the period 2021 - 2025 according to Resolution No. 93/2023/QH15 dated June 22, 2023 of the National Assembly).
According to the appraisal agency, the Government's proposal to allocate capital for the 1,500 billion VND Project from the reserve fund of the Medium-term Public Investment Plan is in accordance with the provisions of the National Assembly Resolution.
However, there are opinions that the allocation of 1,500 billion VND from the reserve fund of the medium-term public investment plan with central budget capital for the period 2021 - 2025 is not feasible. According to the provisions of the Law on Public Investment 2019, the implementation and disbursement period of medium-term public investment capital for the previous period is until January 31 of the first year of the public investment plan for the next period, so the capital of the public investment plan for the period 2021 - 2025 can only be implemented until January 31, 2026. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, so the Government is requested to explain and clarify the allocation of capital to implement the project in 2026.
Regarding the remaining capital shortage of VND 266.5 billion, the opinion at the appraisal agency requested to clarify the reason and appropriateness of the transfer of capital allocated from the Project to build the traffic road west of National Highway 13 connecting Chon Thanh - Hoa Lu to the Project, and at the same time committed that this transfer will not affect the implementation and completion of the Project to build the traffic road west of National Highway 13 connecting Chon Thanh - Hoa Lu.
Regarding the local budget capital of about 2,233.5 billion VND, to ensure the progress and quality of the Project, the appraisal agency requested that localities commit to being responsible to the Government, and the Government is responsible to the National Assembly for allocating local budget sources for the Project to ensure progress.
As for the capital arranged by the investor of about 12,770 billion VND, accounting for 50% of the total preliminary investment of the Project (accounting for 65% of the total preliminary investment of component project 1 under the public-private partnership method), to ensure the feasibility of the Project, the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee recommends that the Government needs to closely coordinate with interested investors in arranging capital for the Project, avoiding having to adjust the Project's investment policy from investment under the public-private partnership method to public investment.
Vingroup and Techcombank consortium expressed interest
Regarding the investment method, the Government proposed to invest in the Project under the public-private partnership method. At the same time, according to the Project dossier, there was an Investor (Joint Venture of Vingroup and Techcombank) interested in proposing and sending a written request for consensus on a number of contents to complete the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study Report under the public-private partnership method.
However, according to the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee, the implementation of investment projects under the public-private partnership model in recent times has shown that attracting investors and credit institutions to participate in investment projects has encountered many difficulties (such as the North-South Expressway Construction Investment Project in the East 2017-2020, Phase 1; Ninh Binh - Nam Dinh - Hai Phong - Thai Binh Coastal Road Construction Investment Project; Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway Construction Investment Project...).
Therefore, the appraisal agency proposed to supplement the basis to ensure the feasibility of the Project, avoiding the case of not being able to select an investor or mobilizing credit capital for the Project, leading to having to convert to the form of public investment, prolonging the time and reducing investment efficiency.
There are suggestions to clarify the attractiveness of the Project to investors when the financial efficiency indicators of the Project are not high, the audit report reflects.
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