
Hanoi (VNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh on September9 chaired a meeting with ministries and agencies to discuss the implementationof the automatic toll collection systems on highways.
The Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) is in charge of managing theseprojects.
Reporting on the implementation of the non-stop automatic toll collection systemin projects managed by the VEC, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho said thedeadline for all toll collection stations to switch to automatic is December 31this year.
The project’s first phase launched in November 2014 has an investment of morethan 2 trillion VND (86.2 million USD), aiming to provide the service for 44build-operate-transfer (BOT) stations.
So far, the ministry has signed contract appendixes to implement the electronictoll collection system at 40 toll stations.
The project’s second phase deploys the system in 33 stations with ajoint-venture of Viettel and other IT companies as the main investors.
Participants at the meeting discussed the biggest problem of a lack of capitalto implement the system. This is an enterprise project, so the State budgetcannot be used for investment.
“The VEC has only one resource, which is the toll fees and charges. The non-stopautomatic toll collection system is part of the expressway project, so theMinistry of Transport proposes that the VEC is allowed to use the toll collectionof the expressway projects to invest and pay for the operation of the tollcollection system, ”said Deputy Minister Tho.
Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai said expressway projects managed by the VECmust pay their debts to sponsors including the Asian Development Bank, theWorld Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). However, the VEChas been slow in payment of due debts, Mai said.
This situation, if repeated, will seriously affect the reputation of theGovernment. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance proposed not using tollcollection to pay off the completion of projects, even for non-stop automatedtoll collection projects. The project's revenue source must be prioritised fordebt repayment, she emphasised.
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh asked the Ministry of Transport and theCommission for the Management of State Capital to work on the problem and finda solution./.