The Government Office has just issued Notice No. 391/TB-VPCP dated July 31, 2025, concluding the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the meeting on research and investment in expanding the sections of the North - South expressway in the East under the public-private partnership (PPP) method.
The notice clearly stated that in Official Dispatch No. 16/CD-TTg dated February 21, 2024, the Prime Minister assigned the Minister of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) to urgently study investment plans and upgrade invested expressways according to the scale of the phased expressway to reach the full scale, in accordance with design standards.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired two meetings on researching investment in expanding the North-South expressway sections in the East under the public-private partnership method, directing the Ministry of Construction to study optimal and feasible options to avoid waste.
The Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged that the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice have implemented the direction of the Government leaders, proposing an investment plan to expand the North-South expressway in the East; the proposed plan of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction is basically a consensus (divided into 2 investment projects under the public-private partnership method), but there are still differences in the investment phasing plan.
At the same time, the implementation of legal regulations in cases of PPP-style expansionary investment for public investment projects has different opinions.
The Deputy Prime Minister agreed with the proposal of the Ministry of Construction on the expansion of the entire North-South expressway in the East; in which, the Ministry of Construction worked with investors of 3 component projects that have been implemented under the PPP method to study the expansion investment plan.
For 15 public investment component projects, the Ministry of Construction will preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to carry out investment preparation work under the PPP method.
The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction to prepare a report to the Prime Minister before August 4, 2025 on the expansion investment plan, clarifying the political basis, legal basis, economic basis, practical basis, planning, regulations, and standards; proposing an optimal investment plan, specific mechanisms and policies (if any) to be able to implement as soon as possible.
In case of implementing investment phasing, there needs to be an argument and clarify the reasons. Along with the proposed plan, there needs to be a specific and feasible implementation plan (from the project preparation stage including preparation, appraisal, approval; organization of investor selection; construction, completion progress) to ensure the completion of all investment and expansion in the period of 2026-2030.
