PM made the request while inspecting the Mai Sơn-National Highway 45 project, which passes through the northern Ninh Bình Province and is a part of the North-South Expressway.

The first phase of the 652.86km North-South Expressway has 11 component projects, three of which are invested in public-private partnerships (PPP). The rest, including the Mai Sơn-National Highway 45 project, are funded with public investment.

The Mai Sơn-National Highway 45 section has a total length of 63.37km and an investment of VNĐ12.11 trillion (US$561.03 million). Its construction started in September 2020 and is scheduled for completion on April 30, 2023. So far, 83.7 per cent of all workload has been finished.

PM Chính took the occasion to pay New Year's visits to workers in construction sites along the route and relocated residents at the resettlement area in Đông Minh Commune, Đông Sơn District of central Thanh Hoá Province.

He later moved on to examine the Diễn Châu-Bãi Vọt project, another component of the North-South Expressway, which connects Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh provinces.

The PM held a working session with relevant ministries, sectors and localities implementing the North-South Expressway component projects in the first and second phases.

On Sunday, PM Chính asked the southern province of Đồng Nai to complete the handover of cleared ground for the first-stage construction of Long Thành International Airport by the end of this first quarter.

During a working session with ministries, agencies, localities and stakeholders of the project, after making a fact-finding trip earlier the same day to the construction site, he assigned them responsibility for the work under their watch and solving existing issues.

The Government has directed the establishment of a working group led by Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà to oversee and speed up the project, PM Chính revealed.

He requested the investor to make a specific plan for each item at a specific time while supervising the implementation of the tasks. Local authorities must focus on handling the site clearance work, accelerating progress while ensuring the quality of the project, and avoiding dividing bidding packages.

By the end of the first quarter of 2023, the entire site for the first phase must be handed over for the project's construction. By the end of the second quarter of this year, he said the site for construction of the logistics road and the access road to the airport must be ready.

Covering a total area of more than 5,580ha, the Long Thành International Airport will spread across six communes in the Long Thành District in Đồng Nai Province. The airport’s total investment is VNĐ336.63 trillion ($14.6 billion), with construction divided into three phases.

In the first phase, a runway and one passenger terminal, along with other supporting facilities, will be built at a cost of VNĐ109.112 trillion to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year.

The project started in 2021. Once fully completed by 2050, the airport will be able to handle 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo annually.

Located 40km east of HCM City, the airport is expected to relieve overloading at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in the southern metropolis, now the country’s largest airport.

PM Chính and the delegation also visited the resettlement area for those who are affected by the project in Lộc An and Bình Sơn communes in Long Thành District. The resettlement area has an area of 280ha, giving accommodation for 7,000 households. Currently, about 1,500 households are living in the area. – VNS