Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc - former Vice Chairman of the Economic Committee of the 14th National Assembly, member of the Expert Group of the Construction Steering Committee - said that resources for implementing the North-South high-speed railway project are an issue of great concern to the people as well as National Assembly deputies.
About 14 years ago - in 2010, the 12th National Assembly delegates raised the issue of resources if implementing the high-speed railway project.
At that time, the total investment of the project was calculated to be 56 billion USD while the context of 2010 - 2011 was very difficult for the Vietnamese economy. Public debt safety and budget deficit. This was one of the reasons why the National Assembly decided not to approve it at that time.
However, our potential is different now. As reported by the Ministry of Transport, Japan decided to invest in high-speed railways in 1950 when GDP per capita was only about 250 USD. China invested in 2005 when GDP per capita reached 1,753 USD. Uzbekistan invested in 2011, when GDP per capita reached 1,926 USD. Indonesia invested in 2015 when GDP per capita was about 3,322 USD.
In Vietnam, according to World Bank research, this is the right time to build a high-speed railway when GDP per capita in 2023 will reach about 4,282 USD and is estimated to reach about 7,500 USD in 2030.
The size of the economy in 2023 will be about 430 billion USD, nearly 3 times larger than in 2010; public debt will be low, only about 37% of GDP.
It is expected that by the time the high-speed railway is built in 2027, the size of the economy will reach about 564 billion USD, so investment resources will no longer be a major obstacle.
Regarding this issue, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy said that it is expected that the state budget capital will be allocated in the medium-term public investment plans to complete the project by 2035. Accordingly, Vietnam will allocate capital for about 12 years, an average of about 5.6 billion USD per year, equivalent to about 16.2% in the period 2026 - 2030 if the current medium-term public investment rate is maintained.
The Ministry of Transport affirmed that our country's position and strength have gradually grown stronger; the private economic sector has developed rapidly, playing an increasingly important role; a number of enterprises are capable of participating in the global value chain, receiving, localizing and gradually mastering technology; many important, large-scale transport infrastructure projects have been formed, promoting regional linkages, enhancing connections with the region and the world.
The process of globalization and international integration creates conditions for countries to exploit external resources (capital, technology, human resources); green economy, circular economy, sustainable development are the top priorities chosen by many countries. This is an opportunity for developing countries to "take a shortcut, get ahead" and go straight to modernity.
