The Investor is carrying an interview with Mai Nguyen, chairman of Vietnam’s Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE) in which he discusses a proposed US$58 billion high-speed rail project connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. He says that the 2,070 kilometres will be completed by 2035–or in about 12 years.
“We are completely capable of doing it quickly if we focus our resources and take a scientific approach,” he says, “…and give rewards for quick performance and penalties for slow progress.”
Note: It took 12 years to build a 13 kilometre metro in Hanoi and a 19.7 kilometre metro line in Ho Chi Minh City is still under construction 11 years after the project began.