The Commission for Management of State Capital at Enterprises has proposed that the Government consider and approve a report to the National Assembly on the investment policy to supplement charter capital for Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) for the 2024-2026 period.
According to the proposal, the required additional capital was VND38.25 trillion (US$1.5 billion), including VND1.56 trillion (US$61.3 million) from the Development Investment Fund at Enterprises and VND36.69 trillion (US$1.4 billion) from the state budget which has already been disbursed for constructing five expressway projects managed by Vietnam Expressway Corporation.
By the end of December 2024, VEC has been the investor of the five expressway projects with a total length of 550 kilometers and a total investment of VND108.86 trillion (US$4.3 billion). Of which, the state budget capital accounts for 44.4 percent and VEC's mobilized capital accounts for 55.6 percent.
Currently, VEC has completed and put into operation four out of the five projects, with a total length of 490 kilometers, accounting for approximately 27 percent of the total expressway length in Vietnam.
According to the plan, Vietnam Expressway Corporation will balance from its capital to replace public investment for the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway project with VND7.55 trillion (US$296 million); expand the HCMC - Long Thanh Expressway Project with VND15 trillion (US$589 million) and expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai Expressway Project with VND7 trillion (US$275 million).
The estimated total investment for VEC in the 2021-2025 period is VND14.89 trillion (US$585 million) and for the 2026-2030 period is VND17.05 trillion (US$670 million).
However, the charter capital at the parent company - Vietnam Expressway Corporation is currently very low, reaching VND1.12 trillion (US$44 million) compared to the total investment scale of approximately VND108.87 trillion (US$4.3 billion).
This situation has led to difficulties for Vietnam Expressway Corporation in mobilizing funds to invest in expressway projects, especially sources with low cost of capital such as commercial loans and bond issuance.
Therefore, the Commission for Management of State Capital at Enterprises has proposed supplementing VEC's charter capital to create favorable conditions for the company to achieve the targets set out in the development strategy for 2030, with a vision to 2035 which has been approved.
In the upcoming time, when the Commission for Management of State Capital at Enterprises terminates its operations, Vietnam Expressway Corporation will be transferred to the merged ministry between the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport.
