📋 Tender Overview
The implementation of highway rest stops as an independent project recently revealed many inadequacies, causing progress to drag on. To overcome this situation, the Vietnam Road Administration said it will propose to the Ministry of Construction to change the method of investing in rest stops in the near future. Download The rest stop at Km 329+700 on Mai Son - National Highway 45 has just been put into operation by the investor at the end of June 2026 - Photo: XD Newspaper After more than 1 year from the date of signing the contract, up to now, the investor has still not been able to deploy the construction of the rest stop at Km144 + 560 on Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet highway. The biggest reason was determined to be that the investor had not been handed over a clean site. Not only the rest stop on Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressway, among the 21 rest stops deployed on the Eastern North - South expressway, the ground is considered the biggest bottleneck blocking the progress of the rest stop. Deployed from the end of 2024, but it will not be until the beginning of 2026 that investors will receive the handover of 20/21 stations. According to the latest data from the Vietnam Road Department, by mid-July 2026, only 2 stations will be completely completed, 11 stations will complete essential public service items, 3 stations will be temporarily operated, 4 stations are under construction and there is still 1 station that cannot start construction due to not having enough space. Lessons Mr. Doan Chi Hieu, Head of Appraisal Department, Vietnam Road Administration, said that the actual implementation of rest stops on the Eastern North-South Expressway shows that, although the Government, Ministry of Construction and localities have been very drastic in directing, the progress of many projects still does not meet requirements. Some projects were delayed from 6 to 15 months just because the premises were not handed over according to plan. Besides the lack of premises, the process of implementing the rest stop also revealed many other limitations. Lengthy investment procedures, changes in legal regulations during the investor selection process, fluctuations in construction material prices, along with the fact that some investors do not have much experience implementing large-scale traffic infrastructure projects, so they are confused right from the investment preparation stage, causing delays in the progress of many stations. Mr. Bui Quang Thai, Director of Vietnam Road Administration, acknowledged that the biggest lesson after the process of deploying 21 rest stops in recent times is that after Once the highway is completed, each rest stop must be implemented as a separate project, from project planning, site clearance to land use conversion, forest use conversion and many other procedures. This means that an investment process is almost repeated from the beginning, while the entire political system has just completed a huge amount of similar work for the highway project. This is the reason why the progress is prolonged and disrupts the synchronization of the project. Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Chung, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Road Transport Project Investors, said that for many years, the socialization of investment in rest stops has been considered an appropriate solution to mobilize non-budget resources. However, the reality of implementing 21 rest stops on the North-South Eastern Expressway shows that when investment procedures are carried out after the route has been put into operation, a series of difficulties begin to arise. That means land clearance must be redeployed from the beginning. In addition, procedures for land, minerals, and conversion of forest use purposes continue to drag on. Many localities, after completing a highway project, have to mobilize additional resources to serve a new project. As a result, the progress of investment in rest stations cannot keep up with the speed of development of the expressway network. Download Nha Trang - Cam Lam Expressway Rest Station - Photo: XD Newspaper Proposal to change the investment method From the above lessons, Mr. Bui Quang Thai said he will propose to the Ministry of Construction to change the investment method in rest stops in the near future. New projects need to be organized in the direction of synchronous investment between the highway and essential technical works such as the ITS system, electronic toll collection and rest stops right from the investment preparation stage. Accordingly, the State will clear the land according to the planned scale of the rest stop right along with the ground clearance of the highway project. At the same time, invest in essential public services such as parking lots, restrooms, rest areas... to ensure that when the expressway is put into operation, people will have full basic services. After the project is completed, the Vietnam Road Administration will temporarily manage the operation until an investor is selected to continue investing in commercial items and operating rest stops. At that time, the investor will repay the States expenditure according to an appropriate mechanism. For routes with low vehicle traffic or in remote areas, the States proactive investment in essential items first will also create favorable conditions to attract investors to participate in exploitation later. 16/21 stations have been exploited or temporarily exploited. For 24 toll stations where the Ministry of Construction is the managing agency, implementing the Prime Ministers direction, the Ministry of Construction has assigned the Vietnam Road Administration and the Management Boards toThe project selects investors in the form of socialization, currently has signed investment contracts to build 21 stations including: Mai Son - National Highway 45; Highway 45 - Nghi Son; Nghi Son - Dien Chau; Dien Chau - Bai Vot; Ham Nghi - Vung Ang; Vung Ang - Bung; Bung - Van Ninh; Van Ninh - Cam Lo; Cam Lo - La Son (Km36+5
