Vehicle inspection will be stabilized at the end of June and fees will be considered to be increased.

Raising questions about vehicle inspection, delegate Nguyen Truong Giang, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee, said that more than 70% of vehicle inspection centers are currently operated by non-state enterprises and must recover capital. However, according to him, with the current vehicle inspection fee mechanism, it is very difficult to maintain, many vehicle inspection centers may have to go bankrupt or dissolve. Mr. Giang suggested considering renewing the financial mechanism for vehicle inspection centers.

According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the recent vehicle inspection incident was extremely serious, causing huge consequences. People and businesses could not get their vehicles inspected. In the vehicle inspection sector alone, 600 leaders, officials and employees were prosecuted. Up to 106/281 centers had to close. Mr. Thang said that the Ministry of Transport has closely coordinated with ministries, especially the Ministry of Public Security, to find a way to restore all vehicle inspection activities to serve people and businesses. The Ministry of Transport has also issued Circulars 02 and 08, exempting first-time vehicle inspections for new vehicles and extending the automatic vehicle inspection cycle (applied to nearly 1.4 million vehicles) to comply with regulations of other countries, reducing time and costs for businesses.

Mr. Thang also agreed with the need to adjust the financial mechanism. The Ministry of Transport has coordinated with the Ministry of Finance to include in the draft revised Price Law, removing the inspection price from the list of prices currently managed.

Continuing the questioning, Deputy Tran Thi Kim Nhung (Quang Ninh delegation) raised the "lack" of responsible vehicle inspection by the Ministry of Transport, and the failure to promptly respond. "The Ministry of Transport must understand better than anyone the negative impacts that disrupt people's lives if there is a lack of vehicle inspection services. It is necessary to thoroughly grasp the General Secretary's viewpoint in preventing corruption and negativity, and must be clever in "hitting the mouse without breaking the vase", Ms. Nhung stated.

This delegate also asked Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to clarify the Government's responsibility in directing and operating. At the same time, he asked Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai to draw lessons in preventing negative corruption after the vehicle inspection incident.

According to Mr. Thang, the whole country only has more than 2,000 inspectors, but after the inspection incident, nearly 1/3 of them have been lost. Meanwhile, recruiting a inspector takes a lot of time from training, granting certificates, sometimes even a year. The leader of the Ministry of Transport also said that this is a force majeure situation, and has currently recruited 350 more inspectors. In the near future, the Ministry of Transport will submit to the Government to amend Decree 139 so that the adjustment mechanism does not necessarily require 3 inspectors for a production line. "The human resources for the coming time will certainly be sufficient. We commit that by the end of June, no later than the beginning of July, inspection activities will be normal," Minister Thang emphasized.

Proposal for the state to buy back "suspended" BOT projects

Delegate Le Hoang Anh (Gia Lai delegation) said that in reality, many enterprises invested in BOT traffic projects, but were unable to recover capital because the Ministry of Transport invested with the state budget on parallel routes or bypass routes, which disrupted the financial plan of the project. For example, the BOT project to expand Ho Chi Minh Road (QL14) in Dak Lak section, but after less than a year of use, the Ministry of Transport invested with the state budget on the bypass route of Buon Ho Town, causing the enterprise to be on the brink of bankruptcy.

Responding to the National Assembly, Minister Thang said that this is something that "cannot be fully calculated". The reason is that the demand for transport infrastructure is large and resources are limited, so investors are invited, but along with the development process, the demand for investment in connecting transport has affected many projects.

"When the entire North-South expressway in the east is completed, many businesses will be affected because of traffic sharing. For example, the Dau Giay - Phan Thiet expressway was recently inaugurated. Last month alone, the BOT station on National Highway 1A in Binh Thuan reduced traffic by 83% because people took the new routes, which were faster, less crowded, and free," Mr. Thang said, adding that in the PPP law, when the BOT project's profit exceeds 125%, the investor will share it with the state. Conversely, if the profit is lower than 75% of the expected profit, the state will share it.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Thu Nguyet (Dak Lak delegation) said that since 2018, the Ministry of Transport has committed to reducing toll fees for people within a 5 km radius of the BOT station, and then the Ministry of Transport has proposed to buy back this BOT station. Ms. Nguyet suggested that there be a specific roadmap, at least the commitment to reduce prices and fees for local people must be implemented. Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (Binh Duong delegation) and many delegates raised the current situation of BOT projects that are stuck and have not been resolved, and asked the Minister of Transport to clarify the responsibilities and upcoming solutions. According to Mr. Thang, in the past, the Ministry of Transport has implemented this work but there are many problems, especially related to the contract signed between the state management agency and the investor. "The state and enterprises must be equal when signing contracts. Many projects are not the fault of the investor, nor of the state, but are due to socio-economic development and practical needs," said Mr. Thang, adding that he had submitted a proposal for the state to buy back 8 BOT projects.

Regarding the investment in a 4-lane highway, Deputy Nguyen Thanh Hai (Thua Thien-Hue delegation) presented the current situation of the locality having 2 highways, Cam Lo - La Son and La Son - Tuy Loan, but both have only 2 lanes, posing potential safety risks. The Deputy asked the Ministry of Transport if it has reviewed the highways with 2 lanes and when will they be upgraded or expanded?

Minister Thang said that investing in complete 4-lane highways, or more than 6-8 lanes, is very correct and necessary. The Prime Minister always directs to try to invest in completing each route. Resources are limited, many routes only have money to invest in 2 lanes because the initial traffic volume is not large. "Although the Prime Minister directed to try, there are still 5 routes with only 2 lanes. The Ministry of Transport has taken note and seriously accepted, advising the Government to continue to expand. The Government also directed to prioritize capital and budget to upgrade 2-lane highways to 4 complete lanes," said Mr. Thang.