Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính speaks at the ceremony on Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính presided over a ceremony in HCM City on April 19 to launch the construction of and inaugurate 80 key national projects and major works across the country, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 – 2025).

The hybrid ceremony was held at Terminal T3 at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport, and connected with 79 sites in 34 provinces and cities nationwide, and broadcast live on VTV1 channel of Vietnam Television.

According to the Ministry of Construction, the projects have a combined investment of over VNĐ445 trillion (US$17.2 billion), with VNĐ305 trillion for new projects and VNĐ140 trillion for completed ones. Among them, there are 40 projects in transportation, 12 in industrial and civil construction, 12 in education, nine in culture and social sector, five in public healthcare, and two in irrigation.

PM Chính affirmed the significance of the event, noting building a harmonious and modern infrastructure system is one of the three strategic breakthroughs identified by the country.

He said the projects demonstrate the determination and will of the Party, the State, ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses in shaping new development spaces and laying a groundwork to boost the country’s economic growth and socio-economic development, serving as a solid foundation for Việt Nam to enter a new era of robust development.

The Government leader expressed his hope that these will be landmark, symbolic projects that help promote Việt Nam’s image as a nation of "independence, peace, unity, resilience, happiness, prosperity, civilisation" on the world map.

He also pointed out the valuable lessons in socio-economic development in general and strategic infrastructure development in particular.

The leader stressed that the groundbreaking and inauguration of these projects play a significant role in enhancing connectivity within provinces and regions and among them, and with other countries, thereby promoting socio-economic development in localities in particular and the country as a whole.

The PM asked investors and contractors to urgently mobilise equipment and workforce to immediately begin construction on the new projects, striving to complete them ahead of schedule, ensure quality, avoid cost overruns, and quickly put them into operation.

Local authorities were required to focus on land clearance, guiding investors and contractors to quickly handle procedures related to material quarries and waste disposal, while paying more attention to social housing development, towards the goals of building one million social housing units by 2030, and completing the elimination of temporary and dilapidated houses nationwide within this year. — VNS