Vietnam adds 800 kilometers of highways to national plan

The ministry has recently submitted to the Government a revised highway network plan for 2020, with a vision to 2030, which involves focusing on completion of the North-South (transnational) Expressway and building new routes to major seaports and business centers.

The total length of all highways has been increased to 7,200 kilometers from the 6,411 kilometers in the original plan approved by the Prime Minister in 2016.

The planned highways will cost VND1.33 quadrillion ($57.63 billion). Under the roadmap drawn by the ministry, 6,418 kilometers of the new highways will be built before 2030, and the remaining later.

The latest plan includes an additional 300 kilometers of highways in the northern region, like one road linking northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La and Dien Bien; another connecting northern Thai Nguyen Province with bordering Bac Kan Province; and yet another that will run from a highway in northern Ha Giang Province to the existing Hanoi – Lao Cai expressway.

In the Central Highlands, the ministry has proposed building a new expressway from Kon Tum Province to the Bo Y International Border Gate to Laos, and is expected to receive 20,000 vehicles per day and night in 2020.

In the southern region, two new highways have been added to the plan. These will connect inner provinces and districts with the Xa Mat and Dinh Ba international border gates to Cambodia.

The ministry has also proposed to extend the planned 150 km Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang highway by 30 kilometers to the province’s Tran De Seaport, helping serve the export needs of the Mekong Delta, the agricultural lifeblood of Vietnam’s southern region.

Currently, Vietnam has nearly 1,000 kilometers of expressways, and expects to build another 900 kilometers by the end of 2021. Between 2021 and 2025, it aims to build an additional 2,000 kilometers.