Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro route

The list also includes the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project in Hanoi. According to the government leader, the Ministry of Transport needs to inform the National Assembly of all the project’s difficulties in order to resolve any issues.

The Ministry of Transport reported that only a few experts from China Railway Sixth Group Co., the general contractor of Hanoi’s Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project, are now in Vietnam with another 150 others still abroad.

The Chinese staff were scheduled to enter Vietnam by late May, however, due to visa problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, they have not yet entered the country.

The ministry has also refused a request to advance USD50 million to the Chinese general contractor so that they could speed up the trial run of the project, mentioning capital shortages to make the equipment payment for their subcontractors.

This was an unofficial proposal which was made at the online meeting only. Even if officially made, this would be also rejected, said a representative from the Ministry of Transport in an interview with Dantri/DTiNews.

Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project was started in October 2011 with a total investment of more than VND18 trillion (USD782.6 million), using Chinese official development assistance.

Initially, the line was slated for completion by late 2017, but for some reasons, its official operation has continued being delayed.