The National Assembly officially approved the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project.

On the afternoon of November 30, continuing the working program of the 8th session, the National Assembly voted to pass the Resolution on the investment policy of the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis. The voting results showed that 443/454 National Assembly deputies participating in the vote voted in favor.

The National Assembly voted to pass a Resolution on investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.

Before voting to approve, the National Assembly listened to Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Le Hong Thanh present a summary report on the acceptance, revision and explanation of the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project.

Mr. Le Hong Thanh said that the majority of opinions agreed with the necessity of investing in the North-South high-speed railway project; investment in the project plays an important role in realizing the Party's guidelines and orientations, the State's policies, creating a breakthrough in socio-economic development, and modernizing transport infrastructure.

There are suggestions to carefully calculate all factors and risks to find a feasible solution suitable to Vietnam's conditions.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly agreed with the majority of the opinions of the National Assembly Deputies on the necessity of investing in the Project. In fact, the Project has been studied and prepared for investment for a long time (about 18 years) and referred to the experience of a number of countries with high-speed railway development in the world to complete the Pre-Feasibility Study Report, in which the analysis and calculation with the forecast results of transportation demand, potential, and current position of Vietnam are suitable conditions for implementing the Project investment.

At the same time, the competent authority has thoroughly discussed the investment policy, factors and conditions for implementing the Project. However, the calculations at the pre-feasibility study stage are only preliminary, so it is recommended that in the Project feasibility study stage, the Government direct relevant agencies to continue to make specific calculations and carefully assess factors and risks to have appropriate solutions to ensure the feasibility of the Project.

Regarding the scope, scale of investment and preliminary design plan, there are opinions suggesting to add the scope of the Project extending from Lang Son to Ca Mau Cape and to divide the implementation into phases; suggesting to connect the Project to the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho railway line to ensure synchronization.

According to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Railway Network Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, has identified the development of new railway routes from Lang Son to Can Tho, including 3 sections: Lang Son (Dong Dang) - Hanoi, Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho to connect dynamic regions, urban areas, major economic centers and ensure national defense and security on the North - South economic corridor.

Because the railway sections from Lang Son to Can Tho have different transportation needs, the technical standards and types of railways are also different and are being studied and invested in according to independent projects, suitable for the transportation needs of each section and the ability to mobilize resources, in which: the Lang Son - Hanoi section, 156 km long, is a standard railway, is being studied for detailed planning, expected to be invested before 2030; the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City section, 1,541 km long, is a high-speed railway, striving to start construction in 2027; the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho section, 174 km long, is a standard railway, is being prepared for investment, expected to be implemented before 2030.

Regarding the socio-economic and financial efficiency of the Project, some opinions suggested carefully evaluating the financial efficiency, especially the ability to recover capital, the ability to repay capital and the subsidies for the Project during operation and exploitation.

According to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Government has calculated the direct and indirect economic benefits to be very large but cannot calculate the revenue and financial efficiency of the Project. Similar to the model of countries around the world, railway projects bring great efficiency to the economy, however, the revenue calculated to pay back the Project's capital is mainly from transportation revenue, commercial exploitation to balance the costs of operating, maintaining vehicles, maintaining infrastructure and paying infrastructure fees to the State.

Accordingly, in the first 4 years of operation, revenue can only cover the costs of operating and maintaining vehicles, so the State needs to support a part of the economic capital allocated to the railway system as it is now to maintain the infrastructure.

Regarding the capital source for the Project, many opinions suggested supplementing a more complete assessment of the capital source and the ability to balance capital and allocate capital for each phase of the Project to ensure feasibility and efficiency; suggested supplementing a thorough assessment of the impact of the Project investment on the state budget deficit, public debt and the budget's ability to repay debt in the medium and long term.

There is an opinion that the Project goes through 3 medium-term periods, so the total investment approved for each period should only be calculated in that period, the capital implemented in each period should be calculated in that medium-term period and should not be transferred from the previous medium-term period to the next medium-term period.

According to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Project will last for 3 medium-term periods, the ability to balance capital and arrange capital to implement the Project, specifically: in the 2021 - 2025 period, the capital demand for the Project is about 538 billion VND (used for investment preparation) has been balanced in the medium-term public investment plan of the Ministry of Transport; in the 2026 - 2030 period, the capital demand is about 841,707 billion VND and in the 2031 - 2035 period, the capital demand is about 871,302 billion VND.

According to the 2019 Law on Public Investment, currently the assessment of the ability to balance capital sources can only be carried out according to the 5-year medium-term public investment plan, the part transferred to the next phase cannot exceed 20% of the public investment plan of the previous phase. The project lasts for 3 medium-term periods, so there is no regulation on determining the ability to balance capital.

Therefore, the draft Resolution stipulates that the Project is allocated capital through medium-term public investment planning periods, the capital level allocated for each medium-term period is consistent with the progress of the Project implementation and does not have to conduct an appraisal of the capital balance capacity according to the provisions of the Law on Public Investment.

Allows the application of certain specific mechanisms and policies.

Regarding the specific mechanisms and policies, especially for implementing the Project, many opinions believe that the Project plays an important role, has a long-term strategic nature, has a deep and wide impact on all aspects of the socio-economic situation of our country and is very large in scale, requires complex technical technology, and is implemented for the first time in Vietnam. Therefore, to ensure the feasibility and effectiveness of the Project, it is necessary to allow the application of a number of specific and special mechanisms and policies.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly agreed with the opinions of the National Assembly deputies and directed relevant agencies to review and perfect specific and special mechanisms and policies to ensure feasibility and effectiveness in applying and implementing the Project.

At the same time, the Government is assigned to issue a Decree providing detailed guidance on the implementation of these mechanisms and policies. During the implementation process, if it is necessary to continue to supplement or adjust specific mechanisms and policies for implementation, the Government will submit them to the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and decision.

Regarding policy 7, there is a proposal to prescribe a separate policy on training in technology mastery and operation and exploitation of the Project after completion.

According to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the content of human resource training is a comprehensive, synchronous program and is implemented over a long period of time from research to operation and exploitation later. The total demand for training resources is about 227,670 people.

At the same time, policy 8 on industrial development and technology transfer is suitable for the current conditions and level of Vietnam's railway industry.

The regulation of separate policies on mastering the technology of operating and exploiting the Project after completion does not ensure the coherence of an overall program because each content from management, design, construction, and operation are related to each other. Therefore, please keep it as the draft Resolution.

In addition, according to Mr. Le Hong Thanh, the specific comments have been explained and accepted by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in the Full Report. At the same time, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has directed the acceptance of comments, review, completion and technical adjustment of the Resolution to be appropriate.

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