The Mekong Delta has more than 20 million people and great agricultural potential. The region contributes up to 95% of Vietnam’s rice exports, 65% of aquaculture production, 60% of fish exports and nearly 70% of fruit production. However, due to traffic bottlenecks, these advantages have not been fully exploited.

To deal with these traffic bottlenecks, the Vietnamese Prime Minister approved the Master Plan for the Mekong Delta in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 in March 2022.

According to this plan, by 2030, the Mekong Delta will have about 830km of highways and about 4,000km of national highway.

By 2030, with a vision to 2050, the Mekong Delta will have a total length of highway system of about 1,166km. 

Particularly, the region will have three highways with a total length of 575km: HCM City - Can Tho - Ca Mau highway of 245km, with 4-6 lanes; Duc Hoa - Rach Soi of 180km, with 6 lanes; and Ho Chi Minh City - Tien Giang - Ben Tre - Tra Vinh - Soc Trang highway of 150km, 4 lanes.

The region will also have three other new roads with a total length of about 591km, including: Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang of 191km; Ha Tien - Rach Gia - Bac Lieu of 212km; Hong Ngu - Tra Vinh  of188km.

The region will have two key bridge projects. The first is My Thuan 2 Bridge of about 6.61km, spanning the Tien River to connect Trung Luong - My Thuan and My Thuan - Can Tho highway, forming a complete expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho. This project has a total investment of VND 5,003 billion. 

The Rach Mieu 2 bridge crosses the Tien River connecting Tien Giang - Ben Tre provinces. The bridge is 17.6 km long, with a total investment of more than VND 5,175 billion. 

In addition to the above projects, there are also important traffic works in the Mekong Delta such as: Dai Ngai Bridge connecting Tra Vinh - Soc Trang province, with a total investment of nearly VND 8,000 billion; Dinh Khao Bridge connecting the two provinces of Ben Tre and Vinh Long with VND3,200 billion of investment; and the 53km western coastal road running through Ben Tre provicne, with a total investment of over VND13,000 billion.

Hoai Thanh