Proposal to bid for the right to toll expressway
With expressways invested by the state budget, Mr. Tran Chung, Chairman of VARSI, said that it is possible to bid and assign private rights to operate and exploit.
At a seminar on expressway management under business – management (O&M) contracts on the morning of May 12, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Chung, Chairman of the Association of Traffic Engineering Investors (VARSI), said that the country now has more than more than 1 million shares of traffic. 1,000 km of expressway has been built with state capital and corporate capital. It is expected that there will be about 5,000 km of expressway by 2030. After investing in construction, the state needs to recover capital to invest in other roads.
However, there is currently no legal framework for the management and operation of expressway projects, causing confusion for the parties involved. This is a gap that needs to be overcome and is the basis for the operation and management of North-South expressways in the coming time.
Mr. Chung suggested that the state choose a capable O&M enterprise that can be assigned to a private company to take care of toll collection and expressway operation. This unit not only collects tolls accurately, without loss, but also regulates to ensure traffic order, rescues and maintains regularly so that the road does not deteriorate.
Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong Expressway stopped toll collection for many years, causing lack of maintenance capital. Image: Hoang Nam
Dr. Le Do Muoi, Director of Strategy and Transport Development, informed that by 2025, an additional 1,675 km of expressway is expected to be invested from the state budget with a total capital of more than VND 315,000 billion. Large capital requires a recovery mechanism to repay the budget and continue reinvesting.
Mr. Muoi suggested early to choose a toll collection unit on the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong expressway to evaluate and learn from experience before simultaneously deploying it on other highways. Because this line is stopping toll collection, causing lack of maintenance capital.
In order for the O&M contract to be feasible, Mr. Muoi said that the contract implementation time must be reasonable to ensure the investor’s financial resources, stable and appropriate exploitation time, especially the state needs to make it public. transparency in selecting project enterprises.
Drawing on experience in Japan, which has successfully franchised many expressways to the private sector, the representative of Taiyu Vietnam Company said that the selection method is to open public bids and receive proposals from many candidates. The selection committee will evaluate the application, then select the candidate for the negotiation round based on many criteria of capacity and experience.
Units that receive the right to operate and perform contracts for about 30 years, pay a part to the state, the rest are paid in installments. Road companies use this money to offset the cost of previous highway construction.
Franchisees can increase profits from bus stops, organize events to attract traffic, reduce management and maintenance costs…
Mr. Doan Tien Giang, PPP expert, US Agency for International Development (USAID) also affirmed that the O&M model has been applied by many countries. State and private contractors enter into contracts for 5-7 years or 30 years depending on the model. The investor may not or pay the franchise fee in advance.
As an operator and operator of many highways, Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, General Director of Deo Ca Transport Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Company, said that many inadequacies in investment in expressway projects at present are that there is no such area. rest stops, gas stations, these items are often separated due to local investment, causing lack of synchronization and difficulties for drivers. The Ministry of Transport should add rest areas as a component of the expressway and organize tenders for operation.
In addition, the cost of maintenance and maintenance is limited due to the calculation of the unit price according to the old calculation method and old technology. Mr. Huy cited Trung Luong – My Thuan as an expressway with a high density of vehicles, so the unit had to arrange a team to be on duty all day. However, current regulations only charge rescue costs for each case, so the unit has to add costs to maintain the rescue force.
At the same time, Mr. Huy said that the State should have policies to encourage the application of science and technology. In order for the expressway management and operation unit to actively invest in road maintenance equipment, it needs to be assigned to operate and operate it for more than 10 years.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
