Speeding up the constructon of the Eastern North-South Expressway was important to drive economic growth. — Photo baodautu.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Government has proposed to the National Assembly three options for transforming investment models at sub-projects of the Eastern North-South Expressway for consideration.

In all three options raised, three out of 11 sub-projects which were already decided to be public-funded following the National Assembly’s Resolution No 52/2017 dated November 22, 2017 were proposed to continue to be public-funded.

Those included expressway projects running from Cao Bồ (Nam Định Province) to Bãi Vọt (Hà Tĩnh), from Cam Lộ (Quảng Trị) to La Sơn (Thừa Thiên Huế) and from Nha Trang (Khánh Hòa) to Dầu Giây (Đồng Nai) and Cầu Mỹ Thuận 2 (Tiền Giang and Vĩnh Long).

The transformation of investment models was proposed for the remaining eight sub-projects which were previously planned to be implemented following the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

In the first option, all of these eight sub-projects were proposed to transform to public-funded.

Speeding up disbursement of public investment was identified as one of the key solutions to accelerate post-pandemic economic growth. The North-South Expressway was a prioritised infrastructure project to speed up disbursement of public investment and create a driver for growth.

In this option, the Ministry of Transport estimated that total capital worth nearly VNĐ99.5 trillion (US$4.3 billion) would be needed. The State budget already allocated VNĐ55 trillion for the Eastern North-South Expressway project under Resolution No 52/2017 and the Government proposed to add the rest in the 2021-25 public investment plan.

In the second option, five out of eight sub-projects would be transformed from PPP to public-funded, including four pressing projects running from Mai Sơn to National Highway 45 (63km), from National Highway 45 to Nghi Sơn (43km), from Nghi Sơn to Diễn Châu (50km) and Phan Thiết – Dầu Giây (99km) and one project from Vĩnh Hảo to Phan Thiết which had not attracted the interest of any investors.

The other three, including Diễn Châu – Bãi Vọt, Nha Trang – Cam Lâm and Cam Lâm – Vĩnh Hảo, which already attracted several investors, would continue to be implemented following PPP.

In the second option, the total investment was estimated at VNĐ100.25 trillion, VNĐ88 trillion of which would be funded by the State (VNĐ55 trillion already allocated and a sum worth VNĐ33 trillion needed). A sum worth more than VNĐ12 trillion must be raised from private investment.

In the final option, three were proposed to transform investment models, including projects from Mai Sơn to National Highway No 45, from Phan Thiết to Dầu Giây and from Vĩnh Hảo to Phan Thiết.

The other five would be PPP.

The total investment capital was estimated at VNĐ100.8 trillion, of which VNĐ78.4 would come from the State budget.

On May 14, the Government proposed to the National Assembly that all sub-projects of the Eastern North-South Expressway would be transformed from PPP to public-funded to speed up the construction and create a driver for economic growth.

However, the National Assembly Standing Committee did not agree with the proposal, adding that the transformation should be for projects which could not attract PPP investors, those facing difficulties in raising capital and those in pressing need. — VNS