Examining the scenario for upgrading Ho Chi Minh City expressway

The 21.92 km long section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Long Thanh International Airport will be upgraded and expanded to 8 lanes, to be completed before December 2027.

Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway.

Optimal investment scale

This is one of the notable contents in Report No. 674/BC-UBQLV recently sent by the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Government leaders on the investment plan to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway Project.

The 55km Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway section invested by Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has been put into operation since mid-2016 with a scale of 4 lanes. Of which, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section is the main road connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Long Thanh International Airport.

Currently, the need to upgrade and expand the expressway is very urgent, especially the expressway section from Ho Chi Minh City (An Phu intersection) to Long Thanh (intersection with Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway) about 26 km long, has been exploited 25% over the route's capacity, not meeting the transportation demand. When Long Thanh International Airport Phase I is expected to be put into operation in early 2026, it will continue to increase pressure on this expressway section.

In Report No. 674/BC-UBQLV, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Canh, Vice Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, said that recently, VEC has studied and proposed 2 options for upgrading and expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway. Specifically, with option 1, VEC will be the investor (implementing the investment plan according to the Investment Law) of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway Upgrading and Expansion Project.

Accordingly, the expressway section of the Project has a construction scope from Km4+00 to Km25+920 with a total length of 21.92 km and will be expanded to 8 lanes, with 10 lanes cleared (currently cleared to ensure the area for 8 lanes expansion). Of which, 2 bridge locations (Song Tac - Km10+436, bridge in the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway intersection Km24+646) will be fully expanded according to the plan to 10 lanes; build an additional Long Thanh bridge unit with the same scale as the current Long Thanh bridge (4 lanes).

This option will ensure that the traffic demand on the route is met until 2035 (traffic volume of about 114,315 CPUs/day and night). The total investment of option 1 is VND 14,339.50 billion, including VND 4,639.50 billion of VEC's equity (32%), and VND 9,700 billion of commercial loans (68%). The project will prepare for investment from March 2024 to February 2025; and implement investment from March 2025 to June 2028.

With option 2, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) will act as the governing body, and VEC will be the investor (implementing the investment plan according to the Law on Public Investment). The scope of implementation remains the same as option 1, but the section from Km4 to Km8+770 will be invested in an 8-lane scale, and the section from Km8 to Km25+990 will be invested in 10 lanes. The project will still invest in building a unit of the same scale as the current Long Thanh Bridge; site clearance will be carried out for the entire 10-lane route.

With this option, the total investment of the Project is 15,628.83 billion VND, including 9,000 billion VND of state budget capital, accounting for 58%; VEC mobilized capital is 6,628.83 billion VND, accounting for 42%.

VEC has enough strength to carry

Due to difficulties in state budget capital as well as investment costs, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises recommends that the Prime Minister approve option 1 - VEC as the investor (mobilizing 100% of investment capital - implementing the investment plan according to the Investment Law) to implement the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway Upgrading and Expansion Project.

The leader of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises proposed that the head of the Government allow VEC to postpone and postpone the payment of principal and interest related to the bonds paid by the Ministry of Finance from the 2022-2026 period to the 2033-2036 period; at the same time, approve the addition of the Project to the list of important national works and projects, key to the transport sector.

To relieve traffic pressure after Long Thanh International Airport is put into operation in 2026, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises found that it is necessary to shorten the investment preparation stage and prepare/approve the technical design documents for construction/total estimate, so that the road section and overpasses can be completed in January 2027, and Long Thanh Bridge in December 2027 (6 months shorter than VEC's proposal).

Regarding VEC's ability to balance equity and commercial loans, the owner's representative said that VEC is carrying out the process/procedure to submit to competent authorities on increasing charter capital, expected to increase charter capital from VND 1,115 billion to about VND 25,000 billion in 2024. "Thus, after the National Assembly approves the policy and the Prime Minister decides to invest additional charter capital, VEC will ensure conditions for mobilizing commercial loans for the Project", Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Canh assessed.

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