Mỹ Thuận-Cần Thơ Expressway will be completed this year. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Major transport projects in the Mekong Delta region, which are expected to be completed this year, will spur socio-economic development of the southwest region for years to come.

Lê Quyết Tiến, director of the Construction Investment Management Department under the Ministry of Transport, said that works to be completed in 2023 include Mỹ Thuận-Cần Thơ Expressway, Mỹ Thuận 2 bridge, National Highway 1’s bypass through Cà Mau City, the project to upgrade the channel for large ships to enter the Hậu River (Phase 2), and the project to upgrade the Chợ Gạo Canal (phase 2).

Meanwhile, the second phase of the North-South Expressway project’s Cần Thơ - Hậu Giang - Cà Mau section is also projected to finish in 2025.

Trịnh Trường Hải, director in charge of the Mỹ Thuận 2 bridge project, said that it is an important part of the eastern section of the North-South Expressway in the first phase, which has a total investment of over VNĐ5 trillion (US$210.57 million). This is the largest cable-stayed bridge project completely designed and built by Vietnamese contractors.

As scheduled, the project will be completed in December of this year.

Meanwhile, the National Highway 1’s bypass through Cà Mau City in the same name province is likely to be completed in the third quarter of 2023.

At the same time, the project to upgrade the channel for large ships to enter the Hậu River (Phase 2), which has an investment of about VNĐ2.59 trillion ($109.07 million), will complete in 2023, enabling the entrance of up to 20,000-tonne vessels, allowing the transport of 21-22 million tonnes of goods per year, contributing to promoting the maritime economy in the southwest region.

The project to upgrade the Chợ Gạo Canal (Phase 2) will complete in August, two months earlier than the schedule.

Nguyễn Vân Thi, director of the Mỹ Thuận Management Board, said that new expressway projects, including the 111km Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway project, started on January 1, 2023, is on good progress and expected to complete in 2025.

Economists projected that completing the infrastructure ensures connectivity between the southwest economic region and HCM City, forming a conduit to help the southern economy to develop.

The major projects will help transport in the Mekong Delta region, facilitating the movement of goods, and creating space and impetus for the development of a promising region. — VNS