Gia Nghia Expressway Investment

Investing in Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh expressway, handling parallel BOT projects

Officially submit to the National Assembly the investment policy for the North-South Expressway construction investment project, western section Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) - Chon Thanh ( Binh Phuoc ).

Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh presented the audit report .

Continuing the 7th Session, on the morning of May 22, the National Assembly listened to the Report on the investment policy of the North-South Expressway construction investment project, the western section of Gia Nghia ( Dak Nong ) - Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc).

Authorized by the Prime Minister to present the Report on this content, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that the investment project is about 128.8 km, of which the route passes through Dak Nong province for 27.8 km; through Binh Phuoc province for 101 km (including 2 km connecting with Ho Chi Minh road, Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa section).

According to the plan, Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh expressway has a scale of 6 lanes. To promote investment efficiency, financial efficiency, and be consistent with the ability to balance capital sources, phase 1 will be divided into 4-lane investment phases, completed in accordance with standards and regulations; site clearance will be carried out once according to the planning scale (6 lanes).

The preliminary total investment is about 25,540 billion VND, of which the state capital participation is 12,770 billion VND, including: central budget 10,536.5 billion VND (1,766.5 billion VND arranged from the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021 - 2025 and 8,770 billion VND arranged from the source of increased central budget revenue in 2022); local budget 2,233.5 billion VND. Investor arranged capital 12,770 billion VND.

Presenting the audit report, Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said the Committee agreed with the necessity of investing in this Project.

Regarding the investment method, according to the Government's submission, the Project has had interested investors propose and send documents asking for opinions and agreement on a number of contents to complete the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study Report under the public-private partnership method.

However, the Review Committee is concerned that the reality of implementing 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 and challenges. Therefore, it is recommended to supplement the basis to ensure the feasibility of the Project, avoiding the case of not being able to select investors or mobilizing credit capital for the Project, leading to having to switch to the form of public investment, prolonging the time and reducing investment efficiency.

The impact of the Project on parallel BOT traffic projects is also an issue mentioned by the review agency.

According to the pre-feasibility study report, there are 2 BOT projects parallel to the Project, which are the BOT Bridge 38 project - Dong Xoai town and the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 14, section Km817 - Km887, Dak Nong province, so investing in the Project will reduce revenue and change the initial financial plan of these projects. However, Report No. 215 has not clarified the level of impact of the Project on these BOT projects.

In fact, many BOT transport projects are currently facing difficulties and problems due to non-compliance with contracts and policy changes affecting the project's financial plan, but so far the Government has not proposed a timely and effective solution to handle them. Therefore, it is recommended to add more specific solutions to the plan to handle parallel BOT transport projects so that the National Assembly has a basis for consideration and decision, avoiding affecting the investment and business environment and the future exploitation and operation of the Project, the appraisal agency noted.

Regarding the preliminary total investment, the Economic Committee stated that the preliminary total investment of the Project is about 25,540 billion VND, determined on the basis of reference construction costs according to the investment rates of similar works of similar scale, nature and conditions in the Project area and compared with relevant regulations.

It is recommended to analyze more clearly the costs of recovery, compensation, support, and resettlement, especially costs related to changing the purpose of using forests and rice fields of the Project, said Chairman Vu Hong Thanh.

Regarding the Project loan interest rate of 10.7%, Mr. Thanh said that there were opinions requesting clarification of the consistency of loan interest rates with the regulations on financial management mechanisms for investment projects under the public-private partnership method.

In addition, the calculation of the financial plan of the Project is based on the determination of the maximum price for road use services by stage of Circular No. 28/2021/TT-BGTVT dated November 30, 2021 of the Ministry of Transport amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 35/2016/TT-BGTVT dated November 15, 2016. Therefore, it may exceed the payment capacity of traffic participants in this area, reducing traffic volume and affecting the financial plan, feasibility and effectiveness of the Project, so it is recommended to clarify.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/dau-tu-cao-toc-gia-nghia---chon-thanh-lo-xu-ly-du-an-bot-song-hanh-d215773.html