A section of National Highway No. 62 in Long An Province. — Photo www.baogiaothong.vn

MEKONG DELTA — The Ministry of Transport has proposed the upgrade and renovation of three degraded national highways in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta region with a total investment of nearly VNĐ9.3 trillion (US$340 million).

The ministry has submitted a project proposal to Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang for approval to upgrade and renovate the three national highways, No. 53, 62 and 91B, in the Mekong Delta.

Under the proposal, the project will be implemented for four years from 2024 to 2027, and will use loans from the World Bank (WB) of about VNĐ6.3 trillion ($267 million), with the rest coming from counterpart capital.

Renovating and upgrading national highways are expected to gradually complete the road transport system in the Mekong Delta region and enhance transport connections between the provinces of Long An, Vĩnh Long, Trà Vinh, Cần Thơ, Hậu Giang, Sóc Trăng and Bạc Liêu.

This will also contribute to meeting transportation needs, promoting socio-economic development, and ensuring national defense and security in the region.

Accordingly, the highways will have a design speed of 80 kilometres per hour and a width of 12 metres, featuring two lanes for motor vehicles and two lanes for rudimentary vehicles.

Sections of National Highway No. 53 in Vĩnh Long and Trà Vinh provinces will be upgraded to a total length of 41kilometres.

For National Highway No. 62, a 69km section from Km4+200 at the intersection with the HCM City-Trung Lương Expressway to Km74 in Long An Province will be renovated and upgraded.

Meanwhile, the section of National Highway No. 91B from Km2+604 to Km8+400 to Km143+480 with a total length of 141kilometres in Cần Thơ city, and Hậu Giang, Sóc Trăng and Bạc Liêu provinces will be upgraded.

Traffic congestion in the Mekong Delta has hindered the socio-economic development of the region for many years.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the region has the lowest number of foreign investment projects across the country because of poor transport infrastructure, except for Long An Province because it is adjacent to HCM City.

The provinces and cities in the delta have many industrial zones and industrial clusters with great potential. 

If the traffic were more convenient, enterprises would definitely pour capital into the delta. Millions of workers would not have to work in other provinces, experts said.

Therefore, if the investment in highways throughout the delta is soon completed, it will not only reduce logistics costs for enterprises but also improve investment attraction in new projects and create on-the-spot jobs for thousands of labourers.

A number of transport projects have been proposed to enhance regional linkages and boost socio-economic development in the region.

In the 2025-30 period, the region plans to complete an additional 14 road projects, three maritime projects, three waterway projects, four aviation projects and one railway project (HCM City to Cần Thơ), which will help to resolve the traffic problems in the region. — VNS