It seeks to put in 20% of the cost and secure the rest through loans from domestic and international financial institutions.
It wants the government to provide guarantees and cover loan interest for 30 years, with repayment secured by assets generated from the project.
The estimated costs do not include compensation for lands and resettlement, which the government will manage as a separate project.
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A highspeed train in Ishikawa, Japan in March 16, 2024. Photo by AFP |
Thaco plans to establish a dedicated company for the project, retaining a controlling stake but inviting other local corporations to invest.
It emphasized that stakes or operational rights would not be sold to foreign investors.
It plans to complete the project in seven years over two phases.
The first five years will focus on crowded travel sections between Hanoi and Ha Tinh Province and HCMC and Khanh Hoa Province.
In the next two years it will link the two sections.
The section between them involves challenging terrain, which requires additional time for surveys and tailored technical designs.
Thaco plans to adopt electrified technology meeting international standards, partner with firms in Germany, France, Japan, and South Korea for technology but train local personnel in the technologies.
It expects the project to transform transportation in the country and drive growth in foundational sectors.
It wants a 70-year contract to operate the railroad and priority access to land for developing urban residential areas to resettle people.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in February urged Thaco to explore technology transfer and manufacture of railway carriages and locomotives for the high-speed railway.
The route, approved by the National Assembly, will run 1,541 kilometers from Hanoi to HCMC, passing through 20 provinces and cities.
Designed for speeds up to 350 kilometers per hour with a 1.435 m double-track gauge, it will have 23 passenger and five freight stations.
Its feasibility study is slated to begin in 2025, with completion targeted for 2035.
Thaco is not the only interested party: VinSpeed, a company controlled by Vietnam’s richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, has also asked to build the railroad route.
VinSpeed has committed 20% of the cost and sought a US$49-billion interest-free loan from the government for a period of 35 years.
It too has asked the government to handle land acquisition and vows to commence operations within five years of construction.
Founded in 1997 by Tran Ba Duong, Thaco has grown from an automobile manufacturing and assembly business into a multi-industry conglomerate, spanning industrial production, logistics, agriculture, and infrastructure.
It has Vietnam’s largest automobile production hub in the central province of Quang Nam, a vast industrial-urban complex spanning thousands of hectares.
It has previously invested in internal transport routes, ports and logistics, and is now venturing into major national infrastructure works.
