HCMC – Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has told the Ministry of Transport to start work on 12 sections of the 729-kilometer North-South expressway project in 2022 so that they can be ready by 2025.
At a conference to review the Ministry of Transport’s performance in 2021, Deputy PM Thanh asked the ministry to renew investment procedures and arrange personnel to complete procedures to commence work on the sections of the cross-country expressway, the local media reported.
According to Thanh, 11 sections of the first phase of the North-South expressway project were approved by the National Assembly in 2017, but it took four years to complete investment procedures and start construction. At this pace, the 12 sections of the expressway project for the 2021-2025 period cannot be completed during the period.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport was asked to come up with specific solutions and report possible issues to the Government for prompt resolution.
The Government had earlier suggested using public funding for all 12 sections of the North-South expressway project in the 2021-2025 period. They require an estimated investment of VND147 trillion.
The completion of the entire North-South expressway with a total length of nearly 2,100 kilometers is important to reach the target of having 3,000 kilometers of expressways by 2025.
Over the past nearly two decades, only 1,200 kilometers of expressways have been developed, so building 1,800 kilometers of expressway in the next four years is a big challenge, the deputy prime minister said.
He hailed the transport sector for developing 11 sections of the first phase of the North-South Expressway project.
