Two new sections on North-South expressway put into use

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (tenth from left) and delegates cut the ribbon to inaugurate Cam Lam-Vinh Hao expressway (Photo: VNA)

Ninh Thuan (VNA) - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 28 attended a hybrid ceremony in the south central province of Ninh Thuan to inaugurate the Cam Lam-Vinh Hao expressway and open the Dien Chau-Bai Vot expressway in the north central province of Nghe An to traffic.

They are the two components of the North-South Expressway project.

The 78.5km Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Expressway, running through the three coastal provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Binh Thuan, was invested with over 8.92 trillion VND (nearly 352 million USD) in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) and has a designed maximum speed of 90km per hour. It shortens the travel time from Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest economic hub, to Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) to about 5 hours by car, instead of 8 hours as before.

Meanwhile, the 50.5km Dien Chau-Bai Vot section runs through the two central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. The 11-trillion-VND expressway can shorten the travel time from Hanoi to Vinh city of Nghe An to just over 3 hours by car.

The two new roads help increase the total length of the currently operational expressway to 1,226 km out of the planned 2,064 km length of the North-South Expressway from Huu Nghi border gate in the northern province of Lang Son to Nam Can town in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

Addressing the event, the Prime Minister emphasised that developing a synchronous and modern infrastructure system is one of three strategic breakthroughs, receiving special attention and direction from the Party and State.

In particular, the expressway system plays a very important role, especially in connecting and improving transportation capacity to serve production, business and daily life, thus helping attract investment, and boost socio-economic development, and ensure national defence and security for localities, regions and the whole country.

He requested the Ministry of Transport to preside over and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities to guide the operation and exploitation of expressways to ensure safety and efficiency.

On the same day, the Government leader visited Labour Hero Ho Thi Luom, born in 1932 in Phuoc My ward, Phan Rang - Thap Cham city - a resilient and creative person who helped the salt production team at the Vinh Ngoc Salt Factory (Nghe An) always exceed output and have the highest productivity in the salt industry./.

VNA