Focus on progress and quality at the same time

This morning (February 3), on the first working day after the 2025 Lunar New Year holiday, Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh chaired the January work meeting and deployed key tasks for February 2025.

Appreciating the results achieved by agencies and units in January 2025 and sending New Year greetings to representatives of agencies and units, the Minister emphasized: the agencies have implemented with a spirit of determination and determination. In particular, in the railway sector, in a very short time, many documents, draft resolutions, and pre-feasibility study reports of the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project have been completed and submitted to competent authorities for consideration and comments.

Going straight into the key tasks in the coming time, the Minister requested that from now until the second quarter of 2025, the work of drafting legal documents must be focused on.

"Building and promulgating standards and norms that are lacking in various fields is one of the issues that needs special attention. Without norms, it is impossible to build unit prices," the Minister emphasized.

Regarding construction investment activities, according to the Minister, the amount of work to be done in 2025 is huge. Roads must complete the target of 3,000 km of expressway. In addition to striving to start the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong project, the railway also needs to complete investment studies for many other routes.

The important task of the aviation industry is to basically complete the Long Thanh International Airport project in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister.

Going into each specific field, the Commander of the Transport sector requested that in the road sector, project management boards speed up the completion of the Eastern North-South Expressway project.

"The biggest concern now is the component projects passing through the South Central region and the Mekong Delta. Investors should review the contractor's capacity. While focusing on progress, they must also pay attention to quality. Project management personnel must be regularly present at the site with quality management agencies, consultants, and contractors to identify problems and promptly resolve them.

In particular, the Can Tho - Ca Mau projects, the horizontal highway, the construction really needs sand loading. But if there is not enough sand, there is no time left, there must be a solution. Agencies, including research institutes, must join in the survey, evaluation, and find a construction plan so that the weak soil area will stop subsidence soon but still meet technical requirements," the Minister assigned the task.

Reiterating the Prime Minister’s instructions during his inspection of key transport projects at the beginning of the year, Minister Tran Hong Minh requested investors to continue studying phase 2 (expansion investment) for any expressway sections that are completed by April 30. Projects that are completed in the later stages also need to prepare plans.

"To save money and avoid waste, it is necessary to consider the capacity of contractors currently working on the project, available resources on site, consider suitable plans and conditions, and the ability to appoint contractors to implement phase 2, and report to competent authorities for comments," said the Minister.

Paying special attention to the Long Thanh International Airport project, the Minister noted: some packages of the project have not yet selected contractors. The total value of the project is only about 30%. Stone is lacking, runway 2 will continue to be constructed, and there is still much work to be done on the technical infrastructure system. The Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway connection is at risk of being behind schedule. Any solution to overcome this difficulty is also an issue that needs to be quickly answered.

The Minister requested investors and relevant units to focus on completing investment procedures for urgent projects such as: Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong - My Thuan, Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay; Yen Bai - Lao Cai; Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi; Hanoi - Thai Nguyen; Cau Gie - Ninh Binh; Phap Van - Cau Gie; Cam Lo - La Son, La Son - Tuy Loan; My An - Cao Lanh... to start construction soon.

With the Dong Dang - Tra Linh project, the Ministry's specialized agencies need to support the two provinces of Lang Son and Cao Bang to complete procedures and soon invest in phase 2 to promote investment efficiency.

"Relevant units need to soon study the investment project to upgrade National Highway 51 to 8 lanes on an urban scale according to 2 options: PPP or public investment (with toll collection), first of all, it is necessary to completely resolve related financial work; Complete the project to remove obstacles for BOT projects to submit to the National Assembly for comments at the May 2025 session; Urgently complete synchronous investment procedures when the expressways come into operation," the Minister directed.

Transport grew by double digits in the first month of the year

According to the report of the Ministry of Transport, in the first month of the year, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Transport promptly submitted and received the conclusion of the Politburo on the Project on investment policy for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line.

The Ministry also submitted a draft Resolution of the Government to implement Resolution No. 172/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly on the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis; a draft Resolution of the National Assembly on piloting specific mechanisms and policies, especially for the development of the urban railway network system in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City until 2035.

In particular, to ensure transportation needs during the peak month of the Lunar New Year 2025 and the Spring Festival season 2025, the Ministry of Transport has issued a plan and directed agencies and units to implement price management solutions and strengthen measures to ensure traffic safety.

In the first month of 2025, transport recorded double-digit growth. Freight transport is estimated at more than 236 million tons, up 12.5% ​​over the same period in 2024. Of which, aviation increased by more than 14%, road increased by nearly 13%, waterway increased by more than 9%, seaway increased by more than 21%, and rail increased by nearly 2%.

Passenger transport is estimated at 454 million passengers, an increase of 17% over the same period in 2024. Of which, aviation increased by nearly 19%, sea transport increased by nearly 11%, rail increased by more than 11%, road transport increased by 16.5%, and waterway increased by more than 7%.

Regarding disbursement, the total capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Transport is more than 81,000 billion VND.

With the goal of disbursing over 95% of the assigned capital plan, the Ministry has urgently assigned all plan details to investors, project management boards and entered data into the budget and treasury management information system.

The Minister of Transport has requested investors, project management boards, and relevant advisory agencies to strive with the highest determination, considering disbursement results as the main criterion to evaluate the level of completion of annual tasks.