The State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises has just reported to the Government on the investment plan to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway project.

According to the proposed plan, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section will be expanded to a total length of nearly 22km. The starting point is at Km4+000 (Ring Road 2 intersection) in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. The ending point is at Km25+920 (Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway intersection) in Long Thanh District, Dong Nai Province.

In which, the section from the Ring Road 2 intersection to the Ring Road 3 intersection (Km4+00 to Km8+770) is invested with 8 lanes according to the plan. The section from the Ring Road 3 intersection to the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway intersection is invested with 10 lanes according to the plan.

Long Thanh Bridge invests in building a new bridge unit with a scale similar to the current bridge, with a scale of 10 lanes (each side has 5 lanes, 3.5m wide).

With the above plan, the total project investment is about more than 14,955 billion VND (including interest during construction), including equity of more than 5,555 billion VND (37%), commercial loan capital is 9,400 billion VND (63%).

For the construction investment category, the committee also proposed that the state-owned enterprise, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), mobilize 100% of the capital for implementation, and at the same time organize the management, exploitation, and toll collection to recover capital according to the Investment Law.

For the site clearance item (over 900 billion VND), the committee proposed using the central budget and local budgets (HCMC, Dong Nai), recommending the Prime Minister to separate it into an independent project, and assign it to the locality to implement in the form of public investment.

The Management Committee also said that according to the audited financial report for 2023, VEC's debt-to-equity ratio is 1.32 times. In the near future, according to the restructuring plan, VEC will be supplemented with charter capital and assets. Thus, VEC is eligible to mobilize capital from credit institutions and financial institutions to invest in project expansion. VEC and Vietcombank have just signed a framework contract on arranging credit to finance the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section expansion project.

Regarding the debt related to the Ministry of Finance's bonds, the management committee has proposed that the competent authority allow VEC to defer and postpone the principal payment. Thanks to that, it is expected that VEC can allocate about VND5,555 billion to invest in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh project.

If approved, the investment project to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway will be implemented from March 2025 to December 2027.

MINH ANH