Connecting infrastructure, promoting Southeastern region

The Southeastern region is the country's largest industrial, seaport and logistics center, handling 45% of the total cargo volume and over 60% of the container volume of Vietnam's seaport system. In order to create motivation to promote economic development in the Southeastern region, the Government is mobilizing resources to invest in the construction of traffic projects with connectivity.

Perfecting traffic infrastructure system

The traffic infrastructure system in the Southeastern region is facing overload and lack of synchronous connection while investment resources only reach about 25%-27% of the needs under the approved plans. This is one of the causes directly inhibiting economic growth in the region.

Leaders of the Ministry of Transport and the province perform the ritual to press the construction button of the Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa section under the Ho Chi Minh Road project

Therefore, the strategy and planning to 2030 with a vision to 2050 of the country in general and the traffic sector in particular continue identifying the Southeastern region as an economic engine, a major industrial, seaport, aviation and logistics center of the country. One of the top priorities is to invest in building or upgrading national highways and belt roads to increase synchronous connection of the whole region’s traffic infrastructure system.

The Politburo has issued the Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW on orientations for socio-economic development and assurance of national defense and security in the Southeastern region until 2030, with a vision to 2045, including "Striving to complete belt road 4 of Ho Chi Minh city by 2030; mobilizing resources to invest in the construction of traffic works under the approved plans, namely Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh city - Moc Bai, Ho Chi Minh city - Chon Thanh, Dau Giay - Lien Khuong , Go Dau - Xa Mat, Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa...

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa section under the Ho Chi Minh road project, Nguyen Duy Lam, Deputy Minister of Transport said that this is a section in the North - South expressway planning under Ho Chi Minh highway. The project is meaningful with an important role, creating a driving force for socio-economic development, attracting investment and expanding the urban - industrial - trade - tourism - service development space of the Southeastern region. Once being completed, the Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa route will connect traffic smoothly and shorten time from the Central Highlands provinces through the Southeastern region to the Mekong Delta provinces, gradually completing the road traffic system with inter-regional connection, reducing traffic load on existing roads.

Promoting development

Located in the Southern Key Economic Zone, Binh Duong has proactively taken the lead in developing the transportation system, creating a clear difference, gaining proactiveness in investment attraction and economic development for many years in order to create an economic breakthrough. However, as of now, along with socio-economic development, Binh Duong's traffic infrastructure system is also encountering difficulties, challenges and cannot keep up with the pace of development. Currently, the province's arterial traffic routes such as National Highway 13, My Phuoc - Tan Van expressway have overloaded during rush hours...The demand and volume of goods transported by Binh Duong as well as neighboring localities passing through the province have increased on a number of arterial roads.

To meet the above needs, Binh Duong has set up the Program No. 42-CTr/TU dated August 2, 2021 on developing traffic infrastructure towards urbanization, building Binh Duongsmart city in the period of 2021-2025, orientations to 2030, with a vision to 2045. Provincial People's Committee has issued the Plan No. 2585/QD-UBND dated October 17, 2022 on the implementation of provincial Party Committee’s Program No. 42-CTr/TU dated August 2, 2021. Especially, the province is currently focusing on perfecting provincial Planning for the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. Perfecting infrastructure system with connectivity is one of provincial planning’s 6 strategies.

With the viewpoint of "traffic goes first, paving the way", creating a foundation and motivation for development, Binh Duong has continued investing in improving a traffic infrastructure system with regional connectivity with such projects as belt roads 3, 4, Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh expressway...

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa section under Ho Chi Minh road project, Nguyen Loc Ha, Vice-Chairman of provincial People's Committee emphasized that for Binh Duong province, the route will help complete the local road system in the northwest, opening up a new connection between Binh Duong and surrounding provinces, especially connecting industrial parks in the province with raw material areas in the Central Highlands and Southwestern regions. The route also has an impact on accelerating the formation and development of the expanded Bau Bang and Cay Truong Industrial Parks, which will soon become high-tech parks and innovation zones under the local orientations for socio-economic planning to 2040 and 2050.

After nearly 12 years of implementation, with the drastic direction of the Government and the Ministry of Transport, Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa section under the Ho Chi Minh road project was restarted to continue completing unfinished items in order to avoid wasting the State's invested capital, contributing to connecting the entire Ho Chi Minh route. The project has a total length of about 72.75km with the starting point in Bau Bang district’s Tru Van Tho commune in Binh Duong province while its ending point intersects National Highway N2 - now Ho Chi Minh road in  Long An province’s Duc Hoa district, with total investment of more than VND 2.29 trillion, using State budget capital.

Reported by Phuong Le-Hoang Phong-Translated by Kim Tin