The information was given by Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai at a Q&A session with National Assembly delegates on Friday.
According to Khai, the feasible study of Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong and Bien Hoa-Vung Tau railway projects is scheduled to be completed by 2025 for construction before 2030.
The two projects have a track gauge of 1,435mm. Bien Hoa-Vung Tau railway route is 128 kilometres long and has a total investment of USD6.2 billion. Meanwhile, Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong route is 380 kilometres long and has a total investment of USD10-11 billion.
The two have been added to the country’s list of projects seeking foreign investment in the 2021-2025 phase.
Deputy PM Le Minh Khai agreed on speeding up the implementation of the two routes, saying that this would help to reduce logistics costs for Vietnamese firms.
Khai cited a report from Agility, one of the world’s top freight forwarding and contract logistics providers, as saying that Vietnam has been ranked in the top 10 places in the 2023 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index. However, logistics costs accounted for up to 16.8-17 percent of the country’s GDP compared to the global average of 10.6 percent.
The cost to transport a 20ft container from Haiphong to HCM City is around VND9.2-9.5 million, while the figure for a 40ft container is some VND12 million.
So building more railway routes connecting seaports would help ease logistics cost pressure for businesses.