At the conference “Communication on Transport Infrastructure: Recognition and Orientation” held by the Vietnam Journalists Association and the Association of Investors in Viet Nam Road Traffic Works in the morning of September 4th in Hanoi, from a perspective of an investor, Mr. Ho Minh Hoang, Chairman of Deo Ca Group, shared many difficulties that corporate has to face during the implementing projects.
Mr. Ho Minh Hoang, Chairman of Deo Ca Group spoke at the Conference
From the practical implementation process of transport infrastructure projects such as Deo Ca tunnel, Co Ma tunnel, Cu Mong tunnel, expansion of Hai Van tunnel, National Highway 1 with a section passing through Khanh Hoa Province, Bac Giang - Lang Son Expressway, Huu Nghi - Chi Lang Expressway, etc., in particular, Deo Ca Group is participating in solving the lasting problems of Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway Project for early stoppable routes in 2020 and expected to be inaugurated in 2021 under the direction of the Government. In addition to the advantages, the investors have to face a lot of inadequacies and barriers. At this conference, the achievements or advantages were not repeated, only difficulties in infrastructure investment were mentioned by Mr. Ho Minh Hoang.
The State management agencies, Ministry of Transport and localities have implemented their commitments which are not always ready the same as the initial investment invitation.
As for the financing capital bank, naturally, as well as a monetary trading investor, although benefiting from the lending interest rate, however, if the project encounters difficulties and problems, it is indifferent and silent. The responsibility of joint stock commercial banks as owning State capital for the policies of the Party and the State in investing in the key projects, the entities as representing the capital of the State should be inspected and supervised by the agencies for making suggestion.
Mr. Ho Minh Hoang took an example: “Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway Project has been delayed for 10 years. The project got attention from the National Assembly, the Government and the Ministry of Transport. Especially, the facility agreement was signed with 20 extremely difficult prerequisites that must be completed prior to the disbursement, of which many conditions are not under the authority of the investor, this has made the project continue procrastination”.
For the inspection and supervision agencies, some projects, where a leader of investor or a corporate is a former investor violated the law but such breach was not related to the project, investigators expanded the scope of information and documents collection with new employees and transactions that are not related to the case being investigated and handled. This fact makes the investment environment insecure, as a result, the parties who have actively been removing difficulties, become fear and dodged.
Bac Giang - Lang Son Expressway Project, Nguyen Van Duong as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of a company, who was a former investor committed a gamble, so other investors, contractors, consultants had to participate into the explanation and supply with documents to the investigating authorities for more than a year. While the capacity of this investor and the capital involved in the project had been appraised and permitted by the Ministry of Transport, not the accountability of the remaining investors in the joint venture.
Under some cases, the project is facing difficulties, the inspections are more regular occurrence, the “mistakes” are accumulated to provide with information to the public, making increased pressure on the project, neither assess all the errors in terms of mechanisms and policies, nor quantify the value of the State’s errors, it is only assessed the disadvantages on one side affecting the interests of the investors, and make people’s awareness of BOT projects biased. The key disadvantages belong to the investors.
BOT preconceived idea of a part of people is pocket picked, interests of the group. Many articles are excited to report the disturbance and disorder at a toll booth, assertive information of the inspections for the BOT project, meanwhile it is very restricted for the given investor’s voice.
Overcoming such encircled difficulties, “When Deo Ca Group recaptured and restarted the Bac Giang - Lang Son Expressway Project, the senior comrades of Lang Son Province said that this highway is the desire of many generations of people and ethnic minorities in Lang Son Province; Or as concerns of 20 million people across the Mekong River of Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway through the chantey “Western Expressway, its construction and reconstruction are incomplete over all the time”.
In October coming, Bac Giang - Lang Son Expressway will be completed after 2 years of restarting, setting a record when no expressway project has been completed in less than 5 years before. And the chantey of the Western people about the Trung Luong - My Thuan Project would be replied that: “Western Expressway, If capital were financed, this road would be unstoppable”, Mr. Ho Minh Hoang concluded the speech in applause applause of the delegates attending the conference.
At the conference, the speeches from the Ministry of Transport, the Association of Investors in Viet Nam Road Traffic Works, the memoirs from the specialized scientists, the State Audit, the State Bank of Vietnam. Nam, experts, investors, etc, also presented and contributed to the conference with a lot of information, containing multi-dimensional perspectives, reflecting the advantages and positive sides, difficulties, inadequacies, problems and adverseness from the specific guidelines, policies, mechanisms and practices, especially the analysis of causes of inadequacies, barriers and biased views and prejudices of social communities towards construction and development of transport infrastructure in the country under the public-private partnership (PPP).
The conference is a connecting thread so that the presses throughout the country accompany with the relevant agencies, managers, propaganda investors to well execute the Party’s policies, the State laws, the aspirations of people, eliminate the prejudice, bias of BOT in the awareness of social community, return the true value of BOT in the near future.
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