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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Chung, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Road Traffic Investors (VARSI)

How do you evaluate the economic and social significance of key transportation projects, including the North-South Expressway, Long Thanh Airport, Hanoi Ring Road 4, and HCM City Ring Road 3, which are currently being implemented?

One of the economic development principles for any country is to invest in technical infrastructure, including transportation infrastructure. Because transportation is the "lifeblood" of the economy, wherever there are roads, there is economic development; wherever there are roads, civilisation spreads there. In other words, to develop the macroeconomy comprehensively, one cannot ignore the role of infrastructure, including transportation infrastructure.

The Party and the State's attention to investment in transportation infrastructure is in the right direction. Therefore, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has repeatedly emphasised the implementation of the three strategic breakthroughs according to Resolution XIII of the Party, including institutions, infrastructure, and human resources; among them are important national projects and key projects in the transport sector. The XIII Congress also set a target that by 2030, the country must have at least 5,000 km of expressways. Currently, the country has only about 1,100 km of expressways. With the viewpoint of "infrastructure leading the way", in recent years, the government has allocated a high level of investment for infrastructure development. About 9-10% of GDP annually has been invested in transportation, energy, telecommunications, water, and sanitation.

Projects that have been are being and are about to be implemented, such as the North-South Expressway, Hanoi Ring Road 4, HCM City Ring Road 3, Long Thanh Airport, and a series of other key projects, when completed, will help connect and develop the economies of regions, inter-regions, and key economic regions, especially areas that need to be promoted and supported for development, including remote and distant areas.

When economic locomotives like Hanoi and HCM City develop, they will attract a whole train to follow, so it is crucial to quickly complete the transportation infrastructure of these localities. For example, if the North-South Expressway is opened according to the government's direction in 2026, it will maximise the efficiency of goods transportation, reduce logistics costs, and enhance the nation's competitiveness.

To accelerate the progress of key transportation projects and ensure both schedule and quality, in your opinion, what solutions do we need to implement, sir?

If completed on time, key transportation projects have significant implications for the overall economy, both at the regional and local levels. Therefore, meeting project timelines should be considered a top priority. However, as the Director-General of the State Appraisal and Inspection Agency for Construction Quality, I believe that the quality of construction is equally crucial. We cannot sacrifice quality in pursuit of meeting deadlines. A project on time but lacking quality will result in significant costs.

Therefore, progress and quality must always go hand in hand. I believe upcoming key transportation projects, including the second phase of the North-South Expressway, Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4, Long Thanh Airport, and others, require special attention from State management agencies to ensure construction quality because a project that meets its quality standards will immediately enhance its socio-economic effectiveness.

To ensure the progress of construction projects, I believe in "doing it right from the start." To implement this principle, it is important to carefully select contractors with professional and technical capabilities, control the quality of input materials, and emphasise the supervision of each stage of product formation.

Contractors should be able to identify all the challenges that a project may face and provide solutions for each issue. In addition to human resources and equipment capabilities, a contractor's ability to organise construction activities efficiently allows them to identify and resolve project challenges as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, the professionalism of project management teams is crucial and can influence the project's progress. These units must closely control factors such as the suitability of contractors' capabilities, compliance with bidding documentation, the quality of input materials, and adherence to the project's technical instructions during construction.

One of the key factors I want to emphasise is the issue of sustainable development. Transportation projects often span multiple regions and significantly impact the environment. Therefore, we need to consider the factors that transportation projects may affect the environmental stability at the lowest level in the future.

To achieve the goal of 5,000 kilometres of expressways by 2030, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Transport have recognised that the State budget is only the "seed" capital and maximising resources from the private sector is necessary. In your opinion, what support and conditions does the government need to provide to overcome investor difficulties?

The goal mentioned is challenging to achieve without specific mechanisms and special policies. Additionally, there should be policies regarding the supply of construction materials and decentralising authority and responsibilities for projects passing through localities. Moreover, the government must study administrative procedure improvements to shorten the processing time while ensuring strict legal compliance.

The capital requirements for developing the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) expressway projects are substantial, reaching hundreds of trillion VND. It can be very challenging to rely solely on traditional funding sources. Besides these "traditional" sources, what other external funding sources can we explore?

I believe that bank credit remains an important source of funding. However, the State should research and adopt suitable policies for transportation infrastructure projects. Additionally, it is essential to encourage corporate bond issuance. There should be mechanisms for investors in expressway projects to collaborate with investors in urban real estate, industrial parks, tourism and resorts, and logistics facilities established due to the expressway network, providing stable project funding.

The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Investment Law was recently enacted to create a new platform for mobilising social resources to participate in public projects alongside the government. So, government management agencies should more fully identify the difficulties in mobilising resources through PPP to find ways to unlock social resources.

Thank you, sir!