Key projects in Vietnam like the Dung Quat oil refinery and the HCM City highway increasingly seem to find themselves over budget.

Dung Quat oil refinery.

A Government report on the situation was released to National Assembly deputies. The Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said that by August 15, 2009, the Dung Quat oil refinery was nearly complete

However, later technical problems rose and problems were made worse by storm No. 9. It meant that the deadline of October 25 was not met – instead, handover is now set for late December or possibly even January 2010.

The National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Dang Vu Minh suggests the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation, the project developer, reviews and learns from the project. Lessons learnt can then be employed in the construction of two other oil refineries planned for the near future.

National Assembly Committee for Science, Technology and Environment’s inspections show problems surrounding the Ho Chi Minh Highway.

They include the sluggishness in planning processes as well as in evaluating and approving construction plans. Also highlighted was the lack of coherent planning between construction of the road and social-economic and transport development plans of local provinces.

And late delivery means spiraling costs.

The total investment needed for the Dung Quat project is $3.054 billion, up by $553 million from the initial estimation.

Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh Highway needs an additional 3.14 trillion dong ($184.7 million), raising the total to 44.16 trillion dong ($2.59 billion).

Le Nhung