As Lao Dong Newspaper has reported, Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee has just submitted a report to the Prime Minister requesting consideration and submission to the National Assembly for approval of the investment policy for the Bao Ha - Lai Chau expressway project with a scale of 4 lanes, with a total estimated investment of more than 65,500 billion VND.
The expressway is about 162 km long, connecting the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway with Ma Lu Thang international border gate, passing through the territory of Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces.
According to the research plan, the entire route has 118 bridges, 7 mountain tunnels, and a design speed of 80 - 100 km/h.
The project is expected to start construction at the end of 2027 and be completed and put into operation in 2031.
In the submission, Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee proposed that competent authorities allow the conversion of land use purposes for about 218 hectares of forest to implement the project according to the provisions of the Forestry Law and related legal regulations.
Notably, the locality proposed to invest in projects in the form of public investment, using 100% of central budget capital instead of implementing in the form of public-private partnership (PPP).
After the project is completed, functional agencies will study a toll collection plan to return a part of the investment capital to the State according to regulations.
According to Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee, the total investment is large, the capital recovery time is long, while the traffic volume in the early stages is not attractive enough, making it difficult for the project to attract private investors.
If implemented in the form of PPP, the proportion of state capital participating will be very high, exceeding the balancing capacity and difficult to ensure financial efficiency.
The locality also believes that the expressway is of particular importance to the Northwest region when it contributes to strengthening regional linkages, border gate economic development, exploiting strategic resources, and ensuring national defense and security.
Therefore, the allocation of central budget capital to soon implement the project is assessed as suitable for the nature of the important national project.
On July 14, talking to PV, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh (Doan Ket ward) shared: "If this expressway is built soon, people will be very happy, traveling has been difficult for many years, the distance to Hanoi or Lao Cai will be much shorter".
To facilitate the implementation process, Lai Chau province proposes to divide the project into 4 component projects.
In which, the first two projects implement compensation, support and resettlement in Lao Cai and Lai Chau with a total investment of about 4, 126 billion VND and 3, 371 billion VND respectively.
The remaining two projects focus on building expressways through Lao Cai and Lai Chau, with a total investment of about 17,412 billion VND and 40,609 billion VND.
Along with that, the province proposed to prioritize allocating central budget capital in the medium-term public investment plan for the 2026-2030 and 2031-2035 periods to ensure the project completion progress in 2031.
Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee also proposed to allow the application of a number of specific mechanisms and policies similar to important national projects to shorten investment preparation time, accelerate site clearance, contractor selection and construction organization.
According to local authorities, the pre-feasibility study report of the project has been completed along with the draft decision to establish the State Appraisal Council.
On that basis, Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee proposed that the Prime Minister consider establishing a State Appraisal Council and assign relevant ministries and sectors to coordinate appraisal, as a basis for submitting to the National Assembly to decide on investment policies according to regulations.
