Vingroup withdraws bid for Vietnam North–South high-speed rail project

In a statement, Vingroup said it had submitted a formal letter to the government seeking to withdraw the investment proposal it filed in May.

The company said the decision followed a review of capital needs and execution capacity for projects it has recently been assigned.

Those include a proposed Olympic sports urban complex in Hanoi covering more than 9,000 hectares, as well as major transport links such as the Ben Thanh–Can Gio and Hanoi–Quang Ninh high-speed rail lines.

Vingroup is also pursuing large-scale industrial and energy ventures, including steel production, wind power, and an LNG power plant.

The firm added that its withdrawal would not affect progress on the North–South high-speed rail project, which has attracted interest from other domestic investors with relevant experience.

VinSpeed, a Vingroup-affiliated infrastructure developer, previously estimated the North–South high-speed rail project to cost about VND1.562 quadrillion ($60.2 billion), excluding land clearance and resettlement. 

The planned 1,541-km line would link Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City at speeds of up to 350 km/h and is targeted for completion by 2035 after phased construction.

Shares of Vingroup and its listed affiliates fell to their daily limits on Thursday after the announcement, with flagship stock VIC ending at VND158,000 ($6).

The sell-off in Vingroup shares knocked about $1.9 billion off the net worth of chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, according to Forbes data, two days after his fortune briefly topped $30 billion.