This issue was clearly stated by Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc when giving a concluding speech at the Ho Chi Minh City socio-economic meeting on June 3.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc affirmed that urban railway infrastructure is a "very important" area in Ho Chi Minh City's transport development strategy.
The city will diversify investment capital sources, restructure the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR) into a large corporation to improve project implementation capacity.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc said that the city is very supportive of Vietnamese enterprises registering to participate in implementing urban railway projects. "The important thing is to create conditions for them. Private investment in metro is both effective, resource-efficient, and budget-saving. If the private sector spends money to invest, it will be sparse" - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, many domestic investors are currently interested in and registered to invest in railway lines in Ho Chi Minh City such as the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line, Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong), Metro Line 4 (Dong Thanh - Hiep Phuoc Urban Area) ...
"The spirit of the city is to call for domestic and Ho Chi Minh City corporations to participate in investment. It is their business to connect with anyone. If we do it by ourselves, we will save the budget, save and be faster" - Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc emphasized.
For Metro Line 2 alone, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc suggested that the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board urgently implement consulting leases, if necessary, to study the possibility of assigning the private sector to do so from the beginning.
Ho Chi Minh City aims to build 7 metro lines with a total length of 355 km by 2035, to increase the public passenger transport rate to 40 - 50% of people's travel needs.
In the next phase, from 2035 to 2045, the city will continue to expand the network by 155 km, bringing the total length of the entire metro system to 510 km.
Also at the meeting, Mr. Tran Quang Lam - Acting Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction - said that Metro Line 2 is determined to start construction in 2025. However, the selection of a consulting contractor to adjust the project has not yet been completed.
Mr. Tran Quang Lam suggested that the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board must "work day and night" to keep up with progress and ensure compliance with commitments.
"Metro No. 2 is currently very convenient, there is a mechanism, now is the time to speed up. If we cannot start construction at the end of the year, it will be a pity" - Mr. Lam emphasized.
At the same time, Mr. Tran Quang Lam also said that it is necessary to urgently review the route plans of the remaining 7 metro lines, in order to clearly identify the land areas developed according to the TOD model (urban development associated with public transport) and focus on compensation and site clearance before 2028.
"The project is available, the capital is available, the mechanism and direction are also available. Now how to coordinate better to speed up the progress" - Mr. Tran Quang Lam said.
