The Ministry of Transport (MOT) once warned that Vietnamese and foreign investors wouldn’t be interested in the BOT project, except the Chinese. The warning stirred up controversy among the public, while National Assembly’s deputies doubted the information.

Pham Chi Lan, an economist, in her analysis, pointed out the existing problems in the policy on calling for investment, and stressed that she did not believe domestic investors could not implement the project.

In the latest news, MOT’s Private Public Partnership Department said the project management units have issued 120 sets of documents for preselection of the 8 PPP component projects of the north-south expressway. Twenty six Vietnamese and 14 foreign investors from South Korea, France, the UK, Hong Kong and China have bought the documents.

Commenting about the information, Pham Chi Lan, an economist, said this is good news which shows that the rigid regulations which put difficulties for domestic investors have, to some extent, been removed.

Vietnamese enterprises have proven they are capable of undertaking the projects.

However, more information will be needed to calculate how many foreign investors and Vietnamese want and have the capability to undertake the projects.

“I am closely watching the process of considering and assessing contractors being implemented by MOT and the bidding appraisal committee of the project.

Many good investors were excluded, while incapable investors were retained. Therefore, in this case, the publicity, transparency, and impartiality must be observed, Lan said.

Mentioning the requirements on investors, Lan said she has questions about the assessment of investors based on the 100 score scale. MOT stipulates that investors’ financial capability accounts for 60 percent of total score (60 score), capability and experience 30 percent (30 score) and project implementation methods 10 percent (10 score).

The requirement on financial capability won’t be a problem for Vietnamese investors because the government has allowed investors to join hands to have enough capital. However, the requirement on experience in implementing projects with a similar scale will be a problem for domestic investors.

In Vietnam, most highway projects in the past fell into the hands of Chinese contractors and the Vietnam Expressway Corporation. Vietnamese enterprises could not undertake the projects and accumulate experience.

Lan proposed publicizing the names of the 26 domestic investors who want to undertake the projects and the 14 foreign investors who have bought documents for preselection. 

Le Ha

Foreign investors interested in North-South Expressway project

Many investors from the Republic of Korea, Japan and China are looking to join the North-South Expressway project, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang.

Is the north-south expressway attractive to investors?

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has issued documents for international bidding to find investors for 5 out of 8 component projects of the North-South Expressway.