The Prime Minister stressed that building 5,000 kilometers of highways in the next 10 years is an important political task. The development of highways in 2001-2020 in Vietnam and the experiences from other countries in the region and the world shows that this creates an important driving force for socio-economic development of localities, regions and the country, improves national competitiveness and ensures the national defense and security.

The building of highways in the last 10 years has witnessed progress with 1,074 kilometers, which is 10 times higher than that of the 10-year period before. 

However, building 5,000 kilometers of highways is a big challenge, especially when it is difficult to mobilize capital. That is why Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh have issued instructions related to the implementation of highway projects, from capital arrangement to site clearance, and have urged speeding up of the projects.  

Regarding the North-South Expressway eastern part, which comprises 11 component projects, the Cao Bo – Mai Son project, which is 15.2 kilometers long, has been completed and put into operation, while another 10 projects are still under construction. 

It is expected that four projects with total length of 360 kilometers (Mai Son – Highway 45; Cam Lo – La Son; Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet – Dau Giay) will be completed by the end of the year, while the remaining projects will be completed in 2023.

The Prime Minister stressed that building 5,000 kilometers of highways in the next 10 years is an important political task. The development of highways in 2001-2020 in Vietnam and the experience from other countries in the region and the world shows that this is an indispensable thing which creates important driving force for the socio-economic development of localities, regions and the whole country, improve national competitiveness and ensure the national defence and security.

The building of highways in Vietnam in the last 10 years has witnessed unmistakable progress with 1,074 kilometers built, which is 10 times higher than that of the 10-year period before. However, building 5,000 kilometers of highways proves to be a big challenge, especially when it is difficult to mobilize capital. That is why Prime Minister Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh have continuously made instructions related to the implementation of highway projects, from capital arrangement to site clearance and urged to speed up the projects.  

Regarding the North-South Expressway eastern part, which comprises of 11 component projects, the Cao Bo – Mai Son project, 15.2 kilometers long, has been completed and put into operation, while the other 10 projects are still under construction. It is expected that four projects with the total length of 360 kilometers (Mai Son – Highway 45; Cam Lo – La Son; Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet – Dau Giay) would get completed by the end of the year, while the remaining projects would be completed in 2023.

In addition to the North-South Expressway eastern part, the development of the North-South Expressway in 2021-2025 was also approved last January. The project, 729 kilometers long, comprising of 12 component projects on Bai Vot (Ha Tinh) – Cam Lo (Quang Tri), Quang Ngai – Nha Trang and Can Tho – Ca Mau, is expected to basically get completed by 2025 and put into operation from 2026. The project would be operated independently under the mode of public investment with the total capital of VND146.99 trillion. Meanwhile, other projects would kick off in the fourth quarter. MOT is working with the localities where the projects go through to prepare the sites.

In addition, the Government has also submitted to the National Assembly five national key projects for consideration and investment, including Chau Doc – Can Tho – Soc Trang; Bien Hoa – Vung Tau; Khanh Hoa – Buon Ma Thuot; Belt Road No3 HCM City and Belt Road No4 of the capital city. These are all urgent projects, expected to work as the leverage for the development of key economic regions.

Building and completing highways projects as scheduled proves to be a big challenge, especially when the resources for public investment are limited, while it is difficult to attract investment under the BOT (build, operation, transfer) mode.

However, the Government has directed ministries, branches and localities to have very strong determination, great efforts and drastic actions in arranging capital and organizing the implementation of the projects.

It is also necessary to learn experience from the problems during the implementation of projects in the past to better implement the next projects.

To ensure the progress of the projects, it’s necessary to always ensure the presence of ‘clean sites’, which is an important thing for projects to be implemented uninterruptedly. One of the problems of the North-South Expressway eastern part is the material shortage. The Government has instructed ministries, branches and localities to focus on settling this problem.

Besides the projects developed with the state’s money, the other highway projects are expected to be implemented under the mode of PPP (private public partnership) with the principle of ensuring harmonious benefits for the State, investors and people.

The transport sector will have to mobilize social resources for Belt Road No 4 Hanoi, Belt Road No 3 in HCM City, and the highway in the eastern part of the southern region.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh stated that the projects of the North-South Expressway eastern part must not be delayed. The Government has allowed the direct appointment of contractors for the North-South Expressway construction and installation project Phase 2, a solution which allows to save time and money for the project.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The said the ministry will gather strength in 2022 and the next years to complete the North-South Expressway on time.

Gia Van