The additional loan China offers to Vietnam to serve the project was negotiated by the two parties in three years ago; however, until May 2017, this loan was signed between the Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance and China Eximbank. After the signing, the two parties had to perform some other legal procedures to make the loan valid.
Nguyen Ngoc Dong, Deputy Minister of Transport said: "The capital for the project is available now and the railway route has been constructed. Therefore, no reason can be attributed to delay the project any longer."
Dong ordered that the project must be put into commercial exploitation in 2018, pushing the main contractor to quickly complete the unfinished items.
The Railway Project Management Unit (RPMU) must coordinate with the Chinese main contractor regarding the installation of systems of fire prevention and fighting, signal information, power supply, etc.
In January, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) will report on the implementation status of the project to the Government for decision on the project progress.
Reporting on the implementation of the project, Vu Hong Phuong, Deputy Director of RPMU said that, up to now, 95 per cent of the construction work has been completed.
The remaining 5 per cent includes the completion of single units and Depot infrastructure, and completion of the remaining work items of the terminal including installation of accessories (railings, ceiling, static floor, doors, etc.).
In the first nine months of 2017, only US$10 million was disbursed for the project due to problems in the procedures for extending loan, delaying the project last year.
According to the Chinese main Contractor’s schedule, Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway project is scheduled for the trial run early in September 2018. After 3 - 6 months of the trial run, the project will be eligible for commercial exploitation if there is no problem.
