After nearly 20 years of incubation, the project was officially approved.
As the country prepares to enter a new spring, welcoming the year of the Snake 2025, the transportation sector in particular and the entire nation in general are delighted with the news that the high-speed railway project has been officially approved.
Sharing his feelings right after the project was approved by the National Assembly, the new Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh said that this was a historic decision. The high-speed railway project on the North-South axis is not only a project of the transport sector but also a dynamic and symbolic project, creating momentum for the economy, contributing to bringing the country into a new era.
Minister Tran Hong Minh said that this is a very large-scale project with a large and complex workload, and is being implemented for the first time in Vietnam. Recognizing this issue, right from the beginning of taking on the task, the ministry's leadership team assessed and identified the difficulties and challenges to be faced in the next steps.
Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang also shared: "After nearly 20 years of research, with many efforts from generations of leaders of the Ministry of Transport, relevant agencies and units, experts and scientists, the moment when the project investment policy was officially approved by the National Assembly, I am truly moved and very proud."
Investing in the project will create momentum for the economy, developing high-speed railways is an objective necessity of the country's industrialization and modernization process, bringing the country into a new era, an era of national growth.
Faith for a new spring
The North-South high-speed railway project, officially approved, will be a new beginning that will help the railway industry "change its skin".
Prof. Dr. Bui Xuan Phong - former Chairman of the Vietnam Railway Economics and Transport Association - expressed that the North-South high-speed railway is a project for the future but also a "salvation" for the current North-South railway system of more than 1,700km, which is more than 100 years old, degraded, outdated and often paralyzed during the rainy and stormy season.
“The backwardness and oldness of the more than 100-year-old system has made the North-South railway unable to compete with aviation and road transport; the country's sustainable transport is being developed lopsidedly. If there is no modern railway to replace the current railway, passengers will continue to "turn their backs" on the railway. Vietnam's railway will lose the opportunity to compete and develop, and moreover, it will lose the intangible values beyond transport that the country's backbone railway transport route can bring" - Prof. Dr. Bui Xuan Phong emphasized.
Regarding project preparation, experts affirm that Vietnam's current position and strength are fully capable of implementing the North-South high-speed railway project.
Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc - former Deputy Chairman of the Economic Committee of the 14th National Assembly, member of the Expert Group of the Construction Steering Committee - said that currently our potential is sufficient to implement. 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... In Vietnam, GDP per capita in 2023 will reach about 4,282 USD and is estimated to reach about 7,500 USD in 2030.
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 plan 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. Therefore, our country's position and strength have gradually grown strong enough to implement the project.
(Posted on the special edition of Lao Dong Xuan At Ty)
