QuangNinh (VNA) - Chairman of the Quang Ninh provincial People’sCommittee Nguyen Duc Long has asked contractors to quicken the construction of HaLong - Van Don expressway, enabling it to connect with the Ha Long - Hai Phong- Hanoi expressway and the Van Don International Airport.

Healso asked contractors to mobilise equipment and manpower to completely fix erosionareas on the whole route, including Km26 400, Km27 950 and Km51.

The60-km-Ha Long-Van Don expressway project is implemented with total investment ofabout 12 trillion VND (over 511.9 million USD) by the BOT Bien Cuong JointStock Company. Its construction started in September 2015.

Once completed, the project is hoped to create traffic connections in theeconomic triangle axis of Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh and form the Ha Noi-HaiPhong-Ha Long-Van Don-Mong Cai expressway route, contributing to easing trafficflow on the National Highway 18.

Itwill also help shorten travel time from Hanoi to Ha Long and the Van Doneconomic zone, thus attracting more investment and boosting the socio-economicdevelopment of Quang Ninh province and the northern key economic region.

The Ha Long-Van Don expressway passes through the cities of Ha Long and Cam Pha,and the districts of Van Don and Hoanh Bo. To speed up the constructionprogress and ensure the completion of the route by the end of December 2018, theChairman of the provincial People’s Committee has requested localities to cooperatewith the investor to roll out plans and measures to solve all difficultiesfacing the construction.

Over 60 billion VND sourced from the provincial budget will be spent on thesettlement of difficulties related to land clearance.

Previously,on September 1, the Ha Long-Hai Phong expressway was put into operation,connecting directly to the Ha Noi-Hai Phong expressway, contributing to reducingtravel time from Hanoi to Ha Long to only 1.5 hours.

Playing an important role in theHanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh economic triangle and serving as a gateway for tradebetween Vietnam and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) andChina, the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh has been making severalbreakthroughs to develop local transport infrastructure and meet the burgeoningeconomic growth.

According to Long, it would take theprovince 10 years to complete its comprehensive, modern transportinfrastructure if it only relied on State allocation and local budget. However,Quang Ninh has made a quantum leap with various measures taken to lure privateinvestment.

Thanks to concerted efforts to improve thebusiness climate, within three years, the locality secured 36 trillion VND(1.53 billion USD) in transport projects, three quarters of which weremobilised from the private sector. A line-up of investors have come to theprovince to branch out key transport projects under build-transfer (BT),build-operate-transfer (BOT), and public-private partnership (PPP) contracts.

Together with other local transport projects suchas the Hai Phong-Ha Long and Ha Long-Van Don highways, as well as upgrades toNational Highway 18, key projects are hoped to improve the province’s transportinfrastructure system, thus contributing to local socio-economic developmentand promoting local tourism and increasing the potential of border and marineeconomies. 

In addition, the Bach Dang bridge connecting thenorthern port city of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh was put into operation in earlySeptember. It helps shorten the distance from Hanoi to Quang Ninh from 175km to125km, thus cutting the travel time between the two localities.

Furthermore, the Van Don International Airport,invested at a total cost of nearly 7.5 trillion VND (319.47 million USD), hasstayed in the limelight of the local infrastructure system. This is the veryfirst airport project in Vietnam to apply the BOT investment model.

Vice Director of the provincial Department ofTransport Bui Hong Minh said that the BOT projects have created momentum todevelop tourism, enhance trade exchange, while also improving its competitivecapacity and bettering the quality of life for local people.

BOT and PPP investment models should be appliedin a flexible manner and local authorities should create a friendly businessenvironment to make Quang Ninh a more attractive destination to powerfulinvestors. -VNA