A map shows the direction of the planned HCM City- Mộc bài Expressway between HCM City and Tây Ninh Province. — Photo courtesy of Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam

HCM CITY — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has approved the Ministry of Transport’s proposal to give HCM City the authority to approve investment policy decisions for the HCM City- Mộc Bài Expressway project.

The Prime Minister has asked the people’s committees of HCM City and Tây Ninh Province to report to their people’s councils that the HCM City People’s Committee will be in charge of making investment decisions.

The 53.5km-long HCM City- Mộc bài Expressway will link Ring Road No 3 in HCM City’s Hóc Môn District with Mộc Bài International Border Gate between Việt Nam and Cambodia in Tây Ninh Province.

The expressway project will be divided into two investment phases.

Its total capital is estimated at nearly VNĐ13.6 trillion (US$586.8 million), including cost for site clearance sourced from the State budget.

The first stage will cost VNĐ10.7 trillion (($461.7 million) under Public-Private Partnership investment.

Construction is expected to be completed by 2025 with at least four lanes, and will be expanded to six or eight lanes by 2045.

A cooperation agreement between HCM City and Tây Ninh Province on the implementation of the HCM City-Mộc Bài Expressway project was signed in October last year.

Under the agreement, the people’s committees of HCM City and Tây Ninh Province will work to speed up the progress of the project.

The HCM City People’s Committee will be in charge of compensation for ground clearance in the city, while the Tây Ninh Province People’s Committee will be responsible for compensation in the province.

The two localities plan to complete site clearance and compensation for the affected local residents next year and selection of investors before March next year.

HCM City and Tây Ninh Province are among eight provinces and cities in the southern key economic zone.

The expressway is expected to ease traffic congestion and facilitate economic growth in the southern region, especially in industrial parks, export processing zones and the Mộc Bài Border Gate Economic Zone in Tây Ninh Province.

It will also enhance transport connectivity and promote trade between Việt Nam and other ASEAN countries. — VNS