A view of Hạ Long-Van Don Expressway in Quang Ninh Province (Source: VNA) Quang Ninh (VNA) - The northeastern province of Quang Ninh has decided to invest in seven major transport projects to promote its socio-economic development in the period of 2020-2022.
The total investment capital for these projects is expected to be more than 10.5 trillion (452 million USD).
Most transport projects are aimed at connecting traffic, promoting the capacity and efficiency of the newly completed Ha Long-Hai Phong and Ha Long-Van Don expressways.
Projects are hoped to improve the province’s transport infrastructure system, thus contributing to the local socio-economic development and promoting local tourism and border- and marine-economic potential.
Particularly, the transport projects connecting Ha Long city with Hoanh Bo district will have three bridges. The province will firstly invest in the construction of two bridges of Cua Luc 1 and 3.
Cua Luc 1 bridge is designed to have a length of 4.2km and Cua Luc 3 bridge with a length of 2.4km. The bridges are expected to be completed in 2022.
These two bridges will meet the travel needs of local people, ensuring traffic in the rainy season and reducing the overload on Bai Chay bridge in Ha Long city.
Cua Luc 2 bridge is expected to be built in the near future with design of movable bridge to serve maritime traffic.
According to Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Long, it would take the province 10 years to complete its comprehensive, modern transport infrastructure if it only relied on State allocation and local budget. However, Quang Ninh has made a quantum leap with various measures taken to lure private investment.
Thanks to concerted efforts to improve the business climate, within three years, the locality secured 36 trillion VND (1.53 billion USD) in transport projects, three quarters of which were mobilised from the private sector. A line-up of investors have come to the province 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 such as the Hai Phong-Ha Long and Ha Long-Van Don highways, as well as upgrades to National Highway 18, key projects are hoped to improve the province’s transport infrastructure system, thus contributing to local socio-economic development and promoting local tourism and increasing the potential of border and marine economies.
In addition, the Bach Dang bridge connecting the northern port city of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh was put into operation in early September 2018. It helps shorten the distance from Hanoi to Quang Ninh from 175km to 125km, 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), has stayed in the limelight of the local infrastructure system. This is the very first airport project in Vietnam to apply the BOT investment model.
Vice Director of the provincial Department of Transport Bui Hong Minh said that the BOT projects have created momentum to develop tourism, enhance trade exchange, while also improving its competitive capacity and bettering the quality of life for local people.
BOT and PPP investment models should be applied in a flexible manner and local authorities should create a friendly business environment to make Quang Ninh a more attractive destination to powerful investors./.
