Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính speaks at the meeting. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam will allocate VNĐ657 trillion (US$26.8 billion) for public investment in 2024, with the best part being spent on transport infrastructure, said Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính.

Chính made the remark at the virtual meeting on the key national projects on Friday.

At the beginning of his speech, he underlined Việt Nam's efforts in driving growth engines, of which investment took centre stage.

He said boosting investment in transport projects will help cut logistics and input costs for producers, improving their competitive advantages. It will also create room for growth in industrial zones and residential areas as "new roads bring new opportunities."

"It's the right choice to focus on investment in transport infrastructure," said Chính. 

The PM praised the ministries and stakeholders who had been working tirelessly even during holidays and weekends to move the projects forward. However, he noted that some projects remain behind schedule due to sluggish procedures and land clearance issues.

He urged meeting attendees to assess the progress of late projects and put forward measures to accelerate them. He also urged them to find solutions to the sluggish delivery of Official Development Assistance money.

The PM also called for research on the use of sea sand in building roads and other transport projects.

After Chính's speech, a representative of the Ministry of Transport reported to the PM on the progress of key national projects.

He said contractors had completed nine out of 11 component projects in the 2017-20 phase of the eastern North-South Expressway. The component projects in Mỹ Thuận-Cần Thơ Expressway, meanwhile, were progressing as scheduled.

Regarding the other two BOT projects and 12 component projects in the 2021-25 phase, investors and contractors were pulling out all the stops to keep the construction work on track.

Regarding the Nhổn-Hà Nội Station Metro Line and Bến Thành-Suối Tiên Metro Line projects, Hà Nội and HCM City were finalising the last steps, including staff training and fire safety procedures, to get them running by July 2024.

Regarding the Long Thành International Airport Project, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation were pushing contractors to accelerate construction work in various packages, including air traffic management facilities.

The T3 Passenger Terminal Package at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport was being implemented and closely monitored by ACV to ensure adherence to the project timeline. About VNĐ2.5 trillion ($101 million) had been disbursed out of its total budget of around VNĐ10.8 trillion ($442 million).

Progress of the five projects in the East-West Expressway was slow overall, except for some packages implemented by HCM City and Hà Nội, provinces of Long An, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Đắk Lắk and Khánh Hòa.

Other highway projects such as Tuyên Quang-Hà Giang, Cao Lãnh-An Hữu and Bến Lức-Long Thành were progressing according to plan.

There are currently 34 key national and 86 component transport projects in Việt Nam. — VNS