QUẢNG NINH — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc attended the launch of the Vân Đồn International Airport, Hạ Long International Passenger Terminal, and Hạ Long-Vân Đồn Expressway in the northern province of Quảng Ninh on December 30.

These infrastructural facilities have a combined investment capital of more than VNĐ20 trillion (US$860 million) from the private investor Sun Group.

Construction on Vân Đồn International Airport started in 2015 on 288 hectares in Đoàn Kết Commune, Vân Đồn District.

It is the first airport in Việt Nam to operate under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model at a cost of VNĐ7.46 trillion.

The airport is capable of catering for Boeing 787, 777 and Airbus A350, A320.

The capacity of the airport is expected to reach 2-2.5 million passengers by 2020 and then five million by 2030.

The airport is set to receive 500,000 passenger arrivals/departures in the first year of operation.

Meanwhile, the Hòn Gai International Passenger Terminal, located on Bãi Cháy, Hạ Long City, was built under the private-public partnership form between Sun Group and Quảng Ninh Province at a cost of VNĐ1.03 trillion.

It was designed to have a 524-m quay that is able to receive two cruise ships with capacity of up to 225,000 gross tonnage with passengers totalling 8,460, including the crew, at the same time.

The port provides a five-star three-storey terminal covering 7,600 square metres and a harbour serving 250 tourist boats carrying visitors to world heritage site Hạ Long Bay.

To connect the airport and the port, the Hạ Long-Vân Đồn Expressway, built at a cost of VNĐ11.85 trillion, was put into service. It helps shorten the travel time from Hạ Long to Vân Đồn to 50 minutes from the current 90 minutes.

Together with the Hạ Long-Hải Phòng highway, which opened to traffic in September 9, 2018, the Hạ Long-Vân Đồn Expressway stretching over 59km, creates connections in the economic triangle axis of Hà Nội-Hải Phòng-Quảng Ninh and form the Hà Nội-Hải Phòng-Hạ Long-Vân Đồn-Móng Cái expressway route, contributing to easing traffic flow on the National Highway 18. 

It will reduce the travel time from Hà Nội to Vân Đồn to two hours and a half from the current five hours.

Addressing the ceremony, PM Phúc reiterated the Party and State viewpoints regarding the attraction of private investments into developing infrastructural facilities and asked cities and provinces nationwide to study these projects for application in their localities, especially in the context that State resources remain limited.

He said these facilities would help Quảng Ninh strongly develop tourism, which is its spearhead economic sector.

He hailed the provincial authorities for their bold mindset in allowing private investors to join in developing major infrastructural facilities, turning the province into the fourth largest contributor of the State budget.

The leader asked the local government and Sun Group to work together to develop services in these facilities to draw more tourists, operate these facilities safely, and complete auxiliary works to maximise the efficiency of these freshly-operated facilities.

Reasserting the importance of the 10th Party Central Committee Resolution on developing the private economy, the Government leader asked competent agencies at all levels to work to turn the private economy into an important driver of the national economy.

"Competent agencies need to encourage and provide all possible conditions for the private economy to grow in a fast, sustainable, and diverse manner in terms of quality, scale and number, and eliminate all hurdles and preconceptions for the private economy to develop healthily in all sectors and fields that are not banned by laws," he said. — VNS