The new Phước Hòa - Cái Mép road in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province has facilitated the transport of large volumes of goods. — Photo nld.com.vn

BÀ RỊA – VŨNG TÀU PROVINCE — The southern coastal province of Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu is mobilising all resources to speed up the progress of major transport projects, including roads, railways and bridges.

The province has identified that it is imperative to develop transport infrastructure to foster its socio-economic growth.

By 2025, the provincial transport system is expected to be completed to meet rapidly growing needs, according to the province’s Department of Transport.

Trần Thượng Chí, director of the department, said the province has more than 1,600km of existing roads, including three national highways No. 51, 55 and 56, and provincial roads, urban roads and dedicated roads.

Over the past five years, the province has built new roads, and upgraded and repaired roads with a total length of 413km.

The 4.4-km Phước Hòa - Cái Mép road is one of the new roads, with an investment cost of VNĐ954 billion (US$42.2 million). It connects National Highway No. 51 with the inter-port road at the Cái Mép-Thị Vải port complex.

Another new road, the Hội Bài - Châu Pha - Ðá Bạc - Phước Tân road, has helped to shorten the travel distance by 20km from Châu Ðức District to National Highway No. 55 in Xuyên Mộc District.

Nguyễn Thị Hoài, an owner of a grocery on Hội Bài - Châu Pha - Ðá Bạc - Phước Tân Street, told Người lao động (Labourer) newspaper that "investment in transport infrastructure has improved our lives significantly, making travelling and trading more convenient".

The province is also speeding up work on many intra-provincial road projects that lead to the Cái Mép - Thị Vải port complex in Phú Mỹ Town.

The 9.7-km 991B Road from National Highway No 51 downstream to Cái Mép is one of the projects. With investment capital of VNĐ3.95 trillion ($170.6 million), the road will be a major traffic route facilitating the transport of cargo to and from the port complex.

It is scheduled to be put into operation in 2024 and will be one of six arterial roads in the province, which will help promote key economic sectors, especially port logistics services.

Another project, the 3.75-km Long Sơn - Cái Mép Road, worth about VNĐ1.19 trillion ($52.4 million), started construction in June.

Construction of a new 2.6km-long road behind the Mỹ Xuân-Thị Vải Port is expected to be completed in mid-2023.

Major inter-regional projects

The province plans to build three major inter-regional projects at the same time, including the Biên Hòa - Vũng Tàu Expressway between the province and Đồng Nai Province; Phước An Bridge crossing Thị Vải River connecting to Đồng Nai Province; and Ring Road No.4 running through the province, HCM City and the provinces of Đồng Nai, Binh Dương and Long An.

These projects are expected to ease traffic pressure on National Highway No. 51, and will be linked to Bến Lức - Long Thành Expressway and HCM City- Long Thành - Dầu Giây Expressway.

Nguyễn Văn Thọ, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province has asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to seek approval from the Government to allocate capital for the Biên Hòa - Vũng Tàu expressway project’s first phase in 2021-25.

Previously, the expressway project was to be built under the public-private partnership (PPP) form. “The PPP form made it difficult to attract investors because of how long the payback period for the project would take,” he said.

The new expressway will play an important role in improving transport connectivity, shortening the transport time of goods from industrial zones in the southern key economic region to the province’s Cái Mép - Thị Vải seaport complex.

“Together with the operation of Long Thành International Airport, the new expressway will contribute greatly to the development of the southern key economic region,” Thọ said.

The committee has also asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to create a policy framework for compensation, support and resettlement for the Phước An Bridge project.

Meanwhile, the Ring Road No. 4 project will create a corridor to facilitate goods circulation between localities in the region.

The Prime Minister has assigned the provincial People’s Committee to implement the Ring Road No. 4 project’s Phú Mỹ - Bàu Cạn section with a length of 18km.

The province is also seeking investment capital for the Biên Hòa - Vũng Tàu railway project and has asked for the government’s help.

Airports

The province will have three airports in the near future. Of these, Côn Đảo Island’s existing airport will be upgraded at an estimated cost of VNĐ2.4 trillion ($105 million) with a medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-25 period.

The airport will be expanded to receive larger aircraft and increase its capacity to two million passengers a year, serving both civilian and military flights.

Hồ Tràm civilian airport project located in Ðất Ðỏ District’s Láng Dài and Lộc An communes will cost about VNĐ4.25 trillion ($186.7 million).

With total investment of VNĐ9 trillion ($395.5 million), a new airport will be built on 248.5ha on Gò Găng Island in Long Sơn Commune.

The province has completed the airport’s pre-feasibility study report and is speeding up implementation.

In the coming years, the province will continue creating favourable policies and conditions for implementing intra-provincial transport. The priority will be given to building a new route connecting Hội Bài - Phước Tân Street and Ðá Bạc Industrial Park in Châu Ðức District, Provincial Road 44B and a new coastal road linking with Ðồng Nai Province’s Cẩm Mỹ District.

Also included will be the expansion or upgrade of Provincial Road 994, and Bà Rịa - Châu Pha route connecting Bà Rịa city and Châu Ðức District and Phú Mỹ Town.

These works are expected to attract investment in coastal tourism projects.

The southern key economic region is one of four key economic regions in the country. It includes HCM City and Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, Bình Phước, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Tây Ninh, Long An and Tiền Giang provinces.

It is the country’s largest foreign direct investment magnet and is expected to become a prosperous region by 2035. — VNS