Topic: Ministry of Transport

According to the Ministry of Transport, the transportation market grew well in all fields in the first nine months of 2022, especially passenger transport. Passenger transport by air increased 162 per cent, by railway 176 per cent, and by waterway 12.5 per cent.

Through a review, the Ministry of Transport has reported that there are eight build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects that are inadequate and need to be reported to relevant authorities for consideration on their future. The ministry has therefore proposed that a solution to terminate contracts ahead of time and allocate State budget capital of about VND13.115 trillion ($552.527 million) to compensate investors and project developers be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval. This would also remove obstacles for investors, thereby restoring their trust.

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has just proposed that the Government submit to the National Assembly for consideration to allocate more than VND13 trillion ($547 million) of state budget to pay investors and businesses and terminate contracts before the project deadline of 8 inadequate BOT projects. According to MoT, completely solving the problems of the eight BOT projects will restore investors' confidence in transport infrastructure projects and free up credit from commercial banks for PPP projects in the coming period.

In the context that 4 BOT projects are failing due to a sharp decrease in revenue, reaching less than 30 per cent, disrupting the financial plan and putting businesses at risk of bankruptcy, the Ministry of Transport proposed to arrange them almost VND5 trillion ($211 million) of state budget capital to return to enterprises and recover projects.

As of the end of August, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) had disbursed 43.9 per cent of the public investment capital in its assigned plan. To the end of this year, it will need to disburse more than VND28 trillion ($1.19 billion). Ministry leaders have proposed speeding up disbursement for key projects and a number of ODA projects.

According to the Ministry of Transport, a study on a project to build a 73-km section of the Ho Chi Minh Highway from Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa, passing through the southern provinces of Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, and Tay Ninh, is expected to be approved in the first quarter of 2023. The project will therefore be restarted shortly after a delay of more than eleven years due to a lack of capital.

A project to upgrade the Cai Mep - Thi Vai channel in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province from buoy No.0 to the Cai Mep container port has been approved by the Ministry of Transport, with total investment of VND1.414 trillion ($60.4 million) coming from the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period.

The Politburo will discuss the North-South high-speed railway project in September, in which priority will be given to construction beginning on two sections - Hanoi to Vinh and Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City - with total investment of nearly $25 billion. The Ministry of Transport will seek National Assembly approval of the key national project before 2027.

The Ministry of Transport has said that the government has prioritized allocating more than VND7 trillion ($300 million) to four projects in the Mekong Delta’s Vinh Long province by 2025, including upgrading National Highways No. 57 and 53, the My Thuan 2 Bridge project, and the My Thuan - Can Tho Highway. The 23-km My Thuan - Can Tho Highway is expected to be completed and opened in April 2023.

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan has signed a document for the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) requesting that it direct Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City to coordinate closely with the City’s Department of Transport on organizing traffic. The Ministry also requested the acceleration of infrastructure projects, to resolve traffic problems at the country’s busiest airport.