Raw materials for the Long Thành Airport construction. — VNA/VNS Photo Công Thành

HÀ NỘI — Some works under the Long Thành International Airport Project’s component four are being delayed because some officers from the bidding unit for selecting investors have little experience and are afraid of making mistakes.

This is one of the notable details from Official Dispatch No 768/CP–CN that the Government has sent to the National Assembly (NA) reporting on the investment policy of the airport project.

Regarding the causes for the delays in phase one, the Government said that, after the project was approved by the NA in terms of investment policy, the Government directed the preparation for phase one.

The design, bidding and construction were scheduled to be completed and put into operation next year.

However, during the process, there emerged some difficulties, so phase 1 of the project will not be completed by next year.

The main causes have been assessed by the Government in Document No 747/TTr-CP issued last week.

Specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the technical design, especially calling for foreign experts.

In addition, after two invitations to bid, the Airports Corporation of Việt Nam (ACV) – investor of component 3 - could select a contractor with capacity and experience to implement the bidding package "Construction and installation of equipment for the passenger terminal".

Moreover, after the project policy was approved, the Law on Construction 2014 and the Government’s Decree No 59/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 18, 2015, also came into effect, so the project’s passenger terminal had to organise an architectural competition.

This is a major project, regarded as a national symbol, so the architectural competition lasted from 2016 until the end of 2017.

Due to its large and complex scale, the Feasibility Study Report of phase one was completed and reported to the Government in June 2018, and was reported to the NA for approval in November 2019.

Based on the main contents approved by the NA, the Prime Minister approved the investment project at the end of 2020. Thus, the investment preparation lasted about five years.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a prolonged technical design process.

The ACV invited bids for package 5.10 – 'Construction and installation of equipment for the passenger terminal', in which the construction progress is determined to be 33 months, so that the project will be put into operation in the fourth quarter of next year.

But, the bidding was unsuccessful, because international contractors assessed that this deadline would affect construction quality.

Under the direction of the Government and the PM, at the second bidding, ACV adjusted the construction period to 39 months (six months longer than the original plan) to suit the reality and increase the attractiveness of large, capable, experienced and reputable international contractors.

As a result, the VietTur International Contractor Consortium won the bid for the passenger terminal package construction.

Thus, the completion progress of phase one will be extended to the third quarter of 2026. — VNS