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High-speed railway
In the afternoon session, most of the NA deputies said the Government should go ahead with the Ha Noi - HCM City high-speed railway project while agreeing on a number of recommendations made by the NA Committee for Science, Technology and Environment.
Legislators said the project was an important part of the entire country's socio-economic development in the context of improving the country's backward network of roads and railways.
The project, which should be completed in 2035, is expected to reduce the journey time between the two biggest trade centres in the country to five hours from the current 30 hours.
However, a committee report expressed doubts on the ability to mobilise nearly US$56 billion, or $35.6 million per km, for the project, said the committee chairman Dang Vu Minh.
Deputy Pham Thi Loan from Ha Noi agreed, saying the cost of building lots of tunnels, bridges and flyovers would be far higher than estimated.
"With the total investment of $21 billion for the first phase, each year alone will need up to $2.63 billion while most of the budget depends on foreign loans. Considering Viet Nam's current foreign debts of almost 39 per cent of GDP, Government's debts of more than 42 per cent of GDP and poor domestic accumulation and low foreign currency reserves, the project would considerably increase the burden of national debt," she said.
Loan suggested the Government mobilise capital on the basis of public-private partnership (PPP) on which the NA should issue a law to win the confidence of long-term investors.
Taiwan, where the PPP model helped build a highly efficient and effective high-speed railway, was a good example of that, she said.
Deputy Vu Thi Phuong Anh from the central province of Quang Nam said the Government should also take into account any possibility of price hikes and consider the choice of technology to be used in the project.
Ha Noi Deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh said she doubted the project's financial efficiency. It would take at least 45 years to recover costs considering the Government's plan to set fares at 75 per cent of the cost of flights whereas an effective project usually needed 10 years to recover, she said.
Most of the deputies recommended the NA should only pass the initial project and leave the details to the next meeting after considering assessments made by relevant committees, public opinion and feedback from experts.
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