The northern province of Quang Ninh is set on beginning construction of the Van Don-Mong Cai highway in the first quarter of this year. 

A corner of Van Don, Quang Ninh

About 97 percent of the land clearance work has been completed, with the remaining 3 percent mostly in Mong Cai city, where local households are refusing to hand over their land. 

According to Vu Van Kinh, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Mong Cai city, the locality is taking steps to complete the clearance work. 

The Van Don-Mong Cai highway will be constructed under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) and public-private partnership (PPP) contract at total cost of more than 11 trillion VND (474.4 million USD).

Quang Ninh People’s Committee has signed the contract with the joint venture of Long Van Infrastructure Investment and Development Co.,Ltd, Van Don Sun JSC and Cong Thanh Transportation and Construction Corporation.

The 80.2km-long highway will have four lanes and will run through the districts of Van Don, Tien Yen, Dam Ha and Hai Ha and Mong Cai city.

Construction is expected to be completed within 22 months. Fees will be collected for 20 years on the road.

Once the road is completed, it will connect with the Hai Phong-Ha Long and Ha Long-Van Don highways, creating the longest highway in Vietnam that runs from Lao Cai in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai to Mong Cai via Hanoi and Hai Phong. The highway will serve as an important transport gateway linking Vietnam and China and countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), helping boost cross-border trade and turn Quang Ninh into a trade and service hub.   

The Van Don-Mong Cai highway is also expected to facilitate access to Van Don international airport, which is slated to open in late December.  

To accelerate the project’s progress, Quang Ninh has made land clearance a sub-project, used the local budget to implement the work and assigned Van Don, Tien Yen, Dam Ha and Hai Ha districts and Mong Cai city to be investors of the sub-project. 

The province has also set up two working groups to remove difficulties facing the project and help the main investor implement legal procedures. 

The Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway was put into service in September 2018, while the Ha Long-Van Don Expressway became operational in December the same year.-VNA