Breaking the ice of a series of long-standing "suspended" projects
In early 2025, people in the Southwest gateway area of Ho Chi Minh City were happy when the Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge (Binh Tan district) officially opened to traffic after 8 years of waiting. This project started in 2017 under the BOT form with a total capital of 312 billion VND, later adjusted to 668 billion VND including interest. However, at the end of 2018, the project stopped at 70% of the volume due to site clearance problems and was no longer in accordance with Resolution 437 of the National Assembly (no BOT on the existing road).
The project was "frozen" for 6 years before being converted to public investment in mid-2024. After conversion, the total adjusted investment is 491 billion VND. The completion of Tan Ky - Tan Quy Bridge not only relieves traffic pressure in the area but also avoids waste due to project extension.
Similarly, Nam Ly Bridge in Thu Duc City has just been completed after 8 years of unfinished construction. The bridge is nearly 450m long, with two branches on each side 10m wide for two lanes and sidewalks. The project started in October 2016 with an investment capital of nearly 732 billion VND to replace the old, degraded Rach Chiec bridge. However, due to land clearance problems, the project has been suspended since 2019. By March 2023, the project was restarted when the locality completed compensation and clearance work.
Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board Le Ngoc Hung said that when Nam Ly Bridge is put into operation, it will contribute to increasing traffic connectivity, reducing traffic congestion in the East and especially help prevent the risk of capital increase.
Also in Thu Duc City, Tang Long Bridge - one of the long-standing "tersome" traffic projects - has completed a branch and put into use since February 2025. The remaining branch is expected to be completed this year. This project started in December 2017 with a total capital of 450 billion VND, later adjusted to 688 billion VND due to many interruptions due to land clearance problems. It was not until October 2023 that the project was restarted.
In addition, many other road and bridge projects that were behind schedule have also been dismantled and put into operation such as: Phuoc Long Bridge (connecting District 7 with Nha Be District), Nguyen Van Linh - Nguyen Huu Tho underpass, expanding Duong Quang Ham, Hoang Hoa Tham, Ten Loi streets... contributing to completing the traffic network and limiting investment waste.
Two trillion-dong BT projects waiting to remove obstacles
In addition to the completed projects, Ho Chi Minh City currently has two major projects under the form of BT (build - transfer) contracts waiting to remove obstacles to continue construction: The flood prevention project worth nearly VND10,000 billion and the third section of Ring Road 2 worth more than VND2,700 billion.
The tidal flood prevention project in Ho Chi Minh City (phase 1) started in 2016, and has reached over 90% of the volume. However, the project has been forced to be temporarily suspended since November 2020 due to legal problems and difficulties in capital allocation. Currently, the project generates interest of about 1.7 billion VND per day.
The third section of Ring Road 2 (nearly 2.8km long, from Pham Van Dong to Go Dua intersection, Thu Duc City) has a total investment of more than VND 2,700 billion, including site clearance costs. The project started in 2017, but stopped construction in March 2020 when it had only reached nearly half of the volume because it had not signed a BT contract appendix and the investor had not received the land fund for payment. The interest rate arising is currently about 15 billion VND per month.
Recently, the Ministry of Finance submitted to the Government a draft resolution to remove difficulties for the two above-mentioned projects.
According to the proposal, the Prime Minister decides to let the Government discuss and decide to approve the adjustment of the feasibility study reports of the projects; there is no need to re-establish the investment policy for the 10,000 billion VND tidal prevention project. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee is assigned to carry out the adjustment procedures and take full responsibility.
Regarding the land fund for the project of 10,000 billion VND, if it is a public asset, it will be handled by Ho Chi Minh City according to the provisions of Resolution 98 of the National Assembly. In case the land has been cleared, the payment will be based on Decree 69/2019 and Decree 35/2021. If the value of the land fund is lower than the total value of the BT project after eliminating unreasonable costs, the difference will be paid with public investment capital managed by Ho Chi Minh City.
