The idea is that an economy targeting double-digit growth for 2026–2030 cannot continue relying on an outdated transport system with high logistics costs and dependence on road and aviation.

A project 1,541 km long, crossing 20 provinces and cities with a total investment of VND1.7 million billion, cannot be viewed as a single transport work; it is a condition for building new national competitiveness.

Along with that, the National Assembly passed the amended Railway Law in 2025, establishing the legal foundation for the entire implementation process. This law not only redefines management scope, technical safety, planning, operations, and maintenance, but importantly, opens the door for private and off-budget capital to flow into railway infrastructure.

Thus, policy thinking has moved from orientation to legalization, from ideas to mechanisms for execution.

But policy approval is just a necessary condition, not a sufficient one. The core issue of this project is not “whether to build,” but “how to build” and who is capable of doing it.

On November 27, at a meeting at the Government Office, Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said: “Assessment must be fair, objective, transparent, open, and no stealth.” The phrase “no stealth” was repeated many times as a governing principle for this especially important project.

The meeting clarified a key point: the investment model must come before choosing the investor. Public investment, PPP, or private investment is a matter of national interest. Only after determining the optimal model does evaluating investor capability make sense.

Six companies registered to participate, and five attended. But capacities were uneven. Some companies had only VND2,000–3,000 billion in capital, or less than 0.2 percent of the total project cost. Some submitted documents lacking financial evidence or had unverifiable business addresses, and could not answer basic questions about equity. Some had once claimed the ability to raise $100 billion but could not provide even minimal legal grounds.

Capable investors entered the meeting with concrete plans. Truong Hai proposed a model of 20 percent equity – 80 percent mobilized capital and loans. Vinspeed – Vingroup presented an investment plan of over $61 billion (excluding land clearance), five years of construction after obtaining cleared land, a 30-year payback mechanism, and the goal of developing a high-speed rail industry in Vietnam.

The crucial point was for the first time, investor selection was based on proven capability, not promises.

If execution capability is not strictly assessed, a national-level project could fall into familiar tragedy: cost overruns, delays, incomplete construction, and huge economic and social costs.

Conversely, if selection is correct, the high-speed railway will become a development lever: reducing costs, shortening travel time, expanding economic capacity, enabling regional connectivity, and raising competitiveness.

Within just one year, from late 2024 to late 2025, a clear logic formed: the Party set the policy; the National Assembly provided the legal foundation; the Government is now testing capabilities. And the project has entered its hardest phase: choosing capable contractors.

A shift in mindset is also clear: the State no longer negotiates with businesses through promises, but through concrete requirements - capital, schedule, technology, risk management, and responsibility.

The first condition is choosing the optimal investment model. Between public investment, PPP, or private, the criterion must be national interest. After that, investors must be screened through clear metrics: true financial capacity, mobilization plan, construction organization, technology, schedule, and risk-management.

The second condition is transparency. Publicize documents, methods, risks, and responsibilities. Without transparency, any project can fall to group interests.

The third condition is execution discipline. A 1,541-km project cannot be implemented with a mindset of “fix it as we go.” It requires independent organizational and supervisory capacity, controlling everything from land clearance to operations and payback.

The North-South high-speed railway  is not an experiment or a test run. It is a strategic infrastructure component tied directly to the goals of double-digit growth and national competitiveness. This project cannot be allowed to fail. It demands an investor-selection mechanism based on criteria, not goodwill; on proven capability, not promises; and it requires placing national interest above all attractive proposals on paper.

The era of billion-dollar declarations is over. This is the era of real capacity and real responsibility. The project can only succeed if the chosen party is not the one who speaks well, but the one who can build a national infrastructure backbone that operates sustainably and supports real growth.

Tu Giang