Promoting less preferential loans from the World Bank to do many large transport projects

At a working session with a delegation from the World Bank (WB) on the afternoon of October 2, Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia said that the demand for investment in developing transport infrastructure is increasing, while Vietnam has expired its use of preferential loans (IDA) from the WB since July 1, 2017.

In the context of high public debt ceiling, Vietnam needs new and appropriate approaches to IBRD loans (loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) of the WB.

Minister Nghia also said that the Ministry of Transport is implementing many major transport projects, including the North-South Expressway, Long Thanh International Airport, and the North-South high-speed railway.

“Except for railway projects where it is very difficult to attract private investment, the Ministry of Transport’s policy is to mobilize social resources for investment in road and aviation projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. We hope the World Bank will support these projects,” said Minister Nghia.

According to preliminary calculations, the total investment for the entire North-South expressway project with complete scale is about 312,435 billion VND.

On the WB side, Mr. Franz R.Dress-Gross, Global Director of Transport and Communications, World Bank has supported Vietnam with 2.8 billion USD to invest in building rural roads, inland waterways, highways...

Currently, the WB also has 5 cooperation projects with the transport sector worth about 1.5 billion USD.

“We understand that the Ministry of Transport is implementing the North-South Expressway project from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City with a length of more than 1,300km, with a total estimated investment of more than 10 billion USD. The World Bank can support this project with a comprehensive package,” said Mr. R.Dress-Gross.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport also proposed the World Bank to support the implementation of a new project using IBRD loans, which is the project to develop waterway and logistics corridors in the Southern region. The project has a total investment of 300 million USD, of which 250 million USD is borrowed from the World Bank's IBRD. And some potential projects such as: North-South Expressway section Dau Giay - Phan Thiet; projects to improve the infrastructure of the existing North-South railway line.

The North-South Expressway construction investment project starts at Cao Bo intersection, in Y Yen district, Nam Dinh province, and ends at Dau Giay intersection, in Thong Nhat district, Dong Nai province, with a total length of about 1,372 km, passing through 16 provinces and cities.

According to preliminary calculations, the total investment for the entire project with complete scale is about 312,435 billion VND.

However, in a recent document sent to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance assessed that many contents in the plan of the Ministry of Transport did not demonstrate the synchronous feasibility for project implementation.

According to Kieu Linh/vneconomy