Continuously adjusting the Huu Nghi Border Gate Expressway BOT Project

Continuously adjusting the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang Border Gate Expressway BOT Project

This is the second adjustment of the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project under the BOT form within only 3 months since the People's Committee of Lang Son province issued a decision approving this project on December 4, 2023.

The failure to complete the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang expressway has caused the Hanoi - Lang Son expressway to become a dead end, having to stop 30 km from Lang Son city and 45 km from Huu Nghi border gate.

The failure to complete the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang expressway on schedule has caused the Hanoi - Lang Son expressway to become a dead end, having to stop 30 km from Lang Son city and 45 km from Huu Nghi border gate for the past 4 years.

The Chairman of Lang Son Provincial People's Committee has just signed Decision No. 427/QD-UBND on approving the adjustment of the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project under the BOT form.

In Decision No. 427, the Chairman of Lang Son Provincial People's Committee approved the adjustment of the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project under the BOT form approved in Decision No. 2014/QD-UBND dated December 4, 2023 and Decision No. 103/QD-UBND dated January 17, 2024.

Specifically, for Decision No. 2014, Lang Son Provincial People's Committee adjusted the third bullet point, Clause 12, Article 1 as follows: "...- Implementation organization: the total land use demand of the project is expected to be about 640.28 hectares (Chi Lang district area: about 166.47 hectares, Cao Loc district area: about 297.55 hectares; Van Lang district area: about 69.83 hectares; Lang Son city area: about 106.43 hectares); the land area according to the clearance boundary of the route is about 564.47 hectares, the expected land use demand to build resettlement areas for the project is about 14.1 hectares (resettlement areas according to local proposals suitable to actual needs), the expected temporary land use demand for the project's dumping sites and material mines is about 61.71 hectares".

Amend Clause 3, Article 2 as follows: “3. Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board, People's Committees of Cao Loc, Van Lang, Chi Lang districts and Lang Son City People's Committee: organize the implementation of site clearance (including relocation of technical infrastructure systems, construction of resettlement areas), compensation, support and resettlement of the project in the management area in accordance with the provisions of law on investment under the public-private partnership method, land, public investment, the State Budget Law and current regulations".

Add point d, clause 2, Article 2 as follows: d) Manage and settle state budget capital in accordance with regulations.

Regarding Decision No. 103, the People's Committee of Lang Son province adjusted the second bullet point, point b, clause 4, Article 1 as follows: "- Management and usage method: Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board, People's Committees of districts: Cao Loc, Van Lang, Chi Lang and People's Committee of Lang Son city: organize the implementation of site clearance work in accordance with current regulations".

About 1.5 months ago, in Decision No. 103, Lang Son Provincial People's Committee adjusted Clause 3, Article 1, Decision No. 2014 on project implementation time.

Specifically, the implementation period of the Project phase is from 2023 to 2026. The People's Committee of Lang Son province also decided to adjust Clause 6, Article 1, Decision No. 2014 on the total investment of the Project, in which the new total investment will be 11,029 billion VND, a decrease of 150 billion VND compared to the previous approval.

The competent State agency of the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project also adjusted Clause 7, Article 1, Decision No. 2014 on capital structure.

Accordingly, the capital that investors and PPP project enterprises are responsible for arranging (including: equity, loans and other mobilized sources) is about VND 5,529 billion (accounting for 50.13% of the total project investment), of which equity is about VND 1,106 billion (accounting for 20% of the total capital that investors and PPP project enterprises are responsible for arranging); loans and other legally mobilized capital are about VND 4,423 billion (accounting for 80% of the total capital that investors and PPP project enterprises are responsible for arranging). State capital participating in the PPP project is VND 5,500 billion (accounting for 49.87% of the total investment), of which central budget capital is VND 3,500 billion and provincial budget capital is VND 2,000 billion.

With the above investment capital structure, the payback period for the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project is 25 years and 8 months instead of 29 years and 6 months as stipulated in Decision No. 2104.

According to Decision No. 2014, the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project under the BOT form is implemented in the districts of Chi Lang, Cao Loc, Van Lang and Lang Son city with a total length of about 59.87km, including the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway, about 43.43km long and the route connecting Tan Thanh border gate and Coc Nam border gate, about 16.44km long.

Of which, the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway is about 43km long and designed with 6 lanes for motor vehicles and a roadbed width of 32.25m; the route connecting Tan Thanh border gate and Coc Nam border gate is about 17km long and designed with 4 lanes for motor vehicles and a roadbed width of 22m.

In the phased phase, the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway will be invested in construction with a scale of 4 lanes, a roadbed width of 17m; the route connecting Tan Thanh border gate and Coc Nam border gate will be invested in construction with a scale of 2 lanes, a roadbed width of 14.5m. The preliminary total investment in the phased phase of the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project under the BOT form is 11,029 billion VND.

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