HANOI, May 15 (Reuters) - The Vietnamese government will

consider a proposal from Vinspeed, a company established by

billionaire Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, to

develop a high-speed railway running the length of the country,

a government document showed.

Lawmakers in the Southeast Asian industrial hub in November

approved a $67 billion plan to build the 1,541-km (958-mile)

railway line linking the capital Hanoi with business hub Ho Chi

Minh City.

The authorities "basically support and welcome the proposal

from Vinspeed", said the document dated Thursday and reviewed by

Reuters.

Vinspeed, formally known as Vinspeed High-Speed Railway

Investment and Development JSC, submitted the proposal this

week, saying it would complete the construction of the railway

by 2030, five years earlier than previously targeted by the

government, state media reported.

Vinspeed said the cost of the railway would be 1,562

trillion dong ($60.26 billion), excluding costs for site

clearance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Cong Thuong

newspaper reported.

The company, founded this month by Vuong, said it would

arrange 20% of the investment and borrow the remaining 80% from

the state at a 0% interest rate for 35 years, according to the

report.

Vinspeed's parent company Vingroup confirmed the plan in a

statement to Reuters.

"Vinspeed ​​is currently negotiating with partners from

countries with expertise in railway industries such as China,

Germany, and Japan to receive technology transfers and

manufacture locomotives, carriages and signal and control

systems in Vietnam," Vingroup said in a statement.

"The company will also quickly organise personnel training

and master technology to take the initiative in developing the

country's railway industry," it added.

The government has assigned the construction ministry to

seek opinions from related ministries and agencies to draft a

resolution by May 20 to submit to the National Assembly, the

country's lawmaking body.

In October, the transport ministry said Vietnam would fund

the railway entirely on its own, in a demonstration of the

Communist-run country's reluctance to accept foreign loans.

Vingroup, once a real estate and retail conglomerate that

has grown to become one of Vietnam's biggest firms, is also the

parent of Nasdaq-listed electric vehicle maker VinFast

with a market capitalisation of $11.7 billion.

($1 = 25,920 dong)