Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The speaks at the conference.

At the conference, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The assessed that transport is a vital factor in the economy.

The transport development in the Southeastern region is inadequate for the economy during the past two decades. Therefore, the economic growth in the region was slowdown in recent years due to overloaded transport infrastructure. 

As the economic hub of the country, all of the gateways to Ho Chi Minh City are currently congested which showed that the city needs expressways connecting with the city center and surrounding provinces in the region along with the North-South expressway, East-West expressway serving for the current travel demand.

If the issues are not overcome, HCMC will become the most congested city in Vietnam and in the Southeast Asian region. Therefore, the city should pay special attention to the main transport system, and ring roads to remove the barriers.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh talks with deputies at the conference. (Photo: Viet Dung)

Regarding inter-regional transport, the minister recognized the current various inadequacies. Accordingly, Ring Road No.2 is very important for HCMC but it has not been built yet, the National Assembly has approved the policy to implement Ring Road No.3 while Ring Road No.4 which is essential to HCMC has not been paid attention to.

Meanwhile, the inter-regional expressway projects connecting HCMC with provinces and cities, including HCMC – Can Tho expressway need expansion. Currently, HCMC – Long Thanh – Dau Giay expressway is overloaded. Besides, HCMC – Moc Bai expressway and HCMC – Thu Dau Mot – Chon Thanh expressway have not been implemented.

Ho Chi Minh City has a large seaport system, but roads connecting to the seaports do not meet requirements.

The deputies talks together at the conference.

Concerning aviation transport, the head of the Ministry of Transport proposed Ho Chi Minh City collaborate with the Ministry of National Defense to upgrade the Tan Son Nhat International Airport to solve the problems related to overload and congestion. Currently, the runways of the airport are able to meet requirements but the streets surrounding the airport, terminals are regularly congested.

Minister Nguyen Van The also proposed HCMC to soon complete Ring Road No.2 and proactively collaborate with relevant units to build Ring Road No.3 by 2025 – 2026 to connect the city and provinces in the region. 

Besides, the minister informed the implementation of the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau expressway with a total investment of around VND20,000 billion (US$856 million) which would be completed in 2025. As for Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway, it is expected that the project will be finished in one or two years. Besides, HCMC and Tay Ninh Province should prioritize starting work on the HCMC – Moc Bai expressway.  

The HCMC – Long Thanh – Dau Giay expressway and HCMC – Trung Luong expressway will be upgraded and expanded to meet the travel demand.