The problem that has been pending for nearly ten years without a solution
6 years ago, the investor of the National Highway 91 BOT project Can Tho sent a document to the Prime Minister to support the collection of road use service fees to recover capital for National Highway 91. In which, the investor has recommended that the State receive the project back and refund the investment cost.
Can Tho National Highway 91 Investment Joint Stock Company was established by a joint venture of Sonadezi Industrial Park Development Joint Stock Corporation and Cuong Thuan IDICO Development Investment Joint Stock Company to implement an investment project to build a project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 91 from Km14+000 to Km50+889 under the BOT form.
The project was approved for investment by the Ministry of Transport, with a total investment of 1,720 billion VND. Through the audit, the project was determined to have an investment value of VND 1,651 billion, of which the equity capital was VND 277.4 billion. The investor affirmed that the organization of capital recovery fee collection at toll station T2 is in accordance with the provisions of the Circular of the Ministry of Finance and BOT Contract.
However, during the project exploitation process, many vehicle owners and vehicle owners caused trouble at T2 Toll Station, causing congestion, traffic safety and security and order loss. The reason drivers object to the T2 toll station is because they have the wrong location, specifically when vehicles from the old An Giang province traveling towards Rach Gia (old Kien Giang) or through Vam Cong bridge to Ho Chi Minh City must go through the T2 toll station and are forced to pay the fee for the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 91, even though the actual distance for vehicles passing through the project is only about 300m. Faced with the complicated situation, on May 25, 2019, the General Department of Roads (now the Department of Roads) decided to stop collecting tolls at station T2. Up to now, the station has not collected tolls.
During that time, National Highway 91 Can Tho Investment Joint Stock Company has requested relevant agencies to come up with a plan to receive the project back, refund investment costs to have a source to repay bank debts, stabilize production and business situation, and not affect workers.
The BOT project on National Highway 91 is a typical example of many BOT projects that are currently facing difficulties.
One of the problems pointed out is related to fee collection policies. According to the representative of the Vietnam Road Administration, there are two forms of toll collection applied to recovered traffic BOT projects: closed toll collection and open toll collection.
The closed fee collection method is often applied to highways when it allows the fee to be calculated based on the actual number of kilometers of vehicles in circulation and less causes negative reactions from the people.
On the contrary, the form of fee collection is mainly applied to national and provincial highways, charging fees by route, regardless of the distance used, causing people traveling a short distance to have to pay the same fee as those traveling the entire route.
After completion, people have to pay for travel when using the road instead of being used for free as before, leading to many protests at toll stations in the period of 2015-2018.
The report of the Ministry of Construction said that by the end of 2024, the whole country had a total of 140 BOT projects. Of which, up to 132 projects were signed before the PPP Law officially took effect on January 1, 2021. These projects are implemented according to old decrees with an incomplete legal system and lack of stability.
According to the Government's statistics, there are 11 transport BOT projects with reduced revenue and ineffectiveness, the State is responsible for handling most of the problems due to objective reasons or due to the fault of the State agency, not the fault of the investor.
The Government has also directed the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) to organize negotiations with investors and lenders to reduce interest and reduce profits.
Amending the law to allow the state to support 11 BOT projects
In April 2024, the Ministry of Transport sent a document to the Prime Minister on adding regulations in the Law on Investment under the revised public-private partnership (PPP) method to remove difficulties and obstacles for BOT projects.
The proposed handling direction is: Supplementing State capital support (operation period) for the parties to continue to execute the contract; terminating the contract and allocating State capital to pay investors, investors and credit providers responsible for sharing reduced profits and interest to ensure harmony of interests.
By April 2025, the Ministry of Construction proposed that the State capital will be allocated about VND 8,482 billion to support 4/11 projects to continue implementing the contract, allocating about VND 6,317 billion to pay and terminate the contract ahead of schedule for 7/11 projects. These 7 projects include: Thanh Hoa City bypass project about 882 billion VND; Binh Loi bridge construction project about 571 billion VND; National Highway 91 renovation project about 1,278 billion VND; Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi road construction project about 2,631 billion VND; Ho Chi Minh road project through Dak Lak province 379 billion VND; An Hai bridge construction project about 33 billion VND; Road 39B renovation and upgrading project Thanh Ne town section about 543 billion VND.
With this plan, the National Highway 91 renovation project and the Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi road construction project will receive the highest support level.
According to the leader of the Ministry of Construction, the above State support amount does not include profits from the investor's equity. The support from the budget only pays a part of the interest arising from the project investment loan (if any), according to the principle of sharing minimal risks and not allowing investors to benefit double.
On June 25, the National Assembly passed the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Bidding; Law on Investment under the Public-private Partnership method; Law on Customs; Law on Value Added Tax (VAT); Law on Export Tax, Import Tax; Law on Investment; Law on Public Investment; Law on Management and Use of Public Assets. In particular, it is related to handling difficulties in reducing revenue of BOT projects in the road sector signed before January 1, 2021.
The National Assembly assigned the Government to issue a Decree detailing the ratio that the State shares with investors and PPP project enterprises regarding the difference between revenue in the financial plan and actual revenue.
11 backlog projects
1. BOT project to invest in the construction of Viet Tri - Ba Vi bridge.
2. The BOT project invests in the construction of Thai Ha bridge on the road connecting the two provinces of Thai Binh (old) and Ha Nam (old) with Cau Gie - Ninh Binh expressway.
3. BOT project to invest in the construction of a road tunnel through Deo Ca (including Deo Ca tunnel, Co Ma tunnel, Cu Mong tunnel, Hai Van tunnel).
4. BOT project to invest in the construction of the old Bac Giang - Lang Son city expressway.
5. BOT project to invest in the construction of National Highway 1 bypassing Thanh Hoa City.
6. The BOT project invests in the construction of the old Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi (old Bac Kan) route and upgrades and expands National Highway 3 from Km75 to Km100.
7. BOT project to upgrade and expand Ho Chi Minh road (QL14) section Km1738+148 - Km1763+610, Dak Lak province.
8. BOT project to invest in the construction of the project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 91.
9. The BOT project invests in the construction of the Saigon River renovation and upgrading project from Binh Loi railway bridge to Ben Suc port.
10. BOT project to renovate and upgrade road 39B, the section avoiding Thanh Ne town, Kien Xuong district (old) and the section from the road to Thai Binh Power Center to Diem Dien bridge, Thai Binh province (old).
11. The An Hai bridge project is invested in the form of a BOT contract.
Ministry of Construction: It is necessary to have a Decree to remove backlogs of traffic BOT
In the draft Decree detailing the removal of obstacles for transport BOT projects, the Ministry of Construction also cited the article: "Developing the private economy - a lever for a prosperous Vietnam" dated March 21, 2025 by General Secretary To Lam.
It clearly states key solutions in the breakthrough momentum, the era of the rise of Vietnamese private enterprises, including protecting the performance of contracts by private enterprises; minimizing the situation of sudden policy changes causing losses to enterprises.
Before the promulgation of the PPP Law, the law on investment under the form of BOT contracts still had some limitations. During the contract implementation process, policies must be adjusted to suit practical requirements, leading to problems in some transport BOT projects.
Implementing the conclusion of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the direction of the Government Standing Committee, the Ministry of Construction (formerly the Ministry of Transport) has coordinated with localities to comprehensively assess the difficulties and problems of transport BOT projects nationwide.
Of the total 140 BOT projects, a list of 11 projects with qualitative problems and some potential problems has been identified.
On that basis, the Ministry of Construction has coordinated with the State Bank of Vietnam and related localities, negotiated with Investors and project enterprises and agreed on 2 groups of solutions to remove obstacles on the basis of ensuring the principle of "harmonious benefits, shared risks" including: The State shares to continue implementing the contract; The State pays compensation costs, terminates the contract ahead of schedule.
Based on the provisions of the PPP Law, the conclusions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the direction of the Government Standing Committee, the results of work and negotiations with investors, project enterprises and credit banks, the Ministry of Construction has compiled and completed the draft Decree dossier.
The Ministry of Construction believes that the Government's issuance of a Decree "Detailed regulations on removing obstacles for transport BOT projects" is necessary in the current context.
The draft also clearly states that for road BOT projects that meet the prescribed conditions, the State's sharing ratio must not exceed 75% of the average ratio between the decreased revenue and the revenue in the project's financial plan in the last 3 years. The decreased revenue is determined by revenue in the financial plan minus actual revenue.
The draft also proposes: The Minister and Chairman of the Provincial Peoples Committee shall decide on the ratio and the State capital share for the project approved by them according to the above regulations and ensure that the State capital does not exceed the ratio as prescribed in Clauses 2, 2a, 2b, Article 69 of the PPP Law.
Talking to Lao Dong, an investor (name changed) of one of the BOT projects that is stuck said: "We expect solutions to remove long-standing obstacles. We are also very tired when the project has been stopped collecting tolls for many years. However, we still have to wait because the new Decree is in draft form, collecting opinions".
Quang Minh - Xuyen Dong
