PM Chinh noted that the country aims to build at least 5,000 kilometres of expressways by 2030. Over the past 20 years, only 1,100 kilometres of expressways have been constructed, which means the task for the country until 2030 is heavy.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the meeting.

He underlined the need to deal with weaknesses during the implementation of the projects, along with the effective settlement of arising problems.

The government leader asked ministries, sectors and localities to set up their own steering committees for the implementation of national key transport projects, while regularly inspecting, evaluating and organising acceptance for the completed projects.

The PM noted that the capital for national key transport projects is 734 trillion VND (31.38 billion USD), of which, over 500 trillion VND (21.37 billion USD) are for expressways.

He requested ministries, sectors and localities to focus on achieving targets set at the 13th National Party Congress in the work, contributing to forming new development space, motivating the growth of regions, boosting tourism development, dealing with bottlenecks in transport and promoting production as well as socio-economic recovery.

The Government leader asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to bear the responsibility for licencing construction material mines and make a report to the Government in August.

The Ministries of Finance, and Planning and Investment were requested to give guidance on speeding up capital disbursement.

Meanwhile, localities were asked to speed up resettlement and ground clearance activities. As the petrol prices have reduced to the level recorded before the conflict in Ukraine, the PM asked construction material suppliers to consider adjusting materials’ prices to share difficulties with businesses and people.

Currently, there are nine national key transport projects and 31 component projects, including the eastern section of the North - South expressway; Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway; Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot expressway; Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway; Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway; Belt Road No.4 of the Hanoi Capital Region, Belt Road No.3 of Ho Chi Minh City; North - South high-speed railway; urban railway lines in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; and Long Thanh International Airport.

Of the total, three projects are under the management of the Ministry of Transport, five under the management of localities, and one under other ministries, sectors and enterprises.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, the implementation of the transport projects is significant in expanding space for development. However, their progress has remained slow.

He stressed that amid the heavy workload, it is necessary for relevant ministries, sectors and localities to speed up the work, especially in capital allocation and ground clearance.

Kep rail station proposed to become international multimodal transport terminal

(BGO) - Vietnam National Railway (VNR) has proposed the Ministry of Transport permitting Kep station (in Lang Giang district) to become an international multimodal transport terminal. When becoming an international multimodal transport terminal, Kep station will help to ease cargo congestion at the border gate and 2 existing international multimodal transport terminals on the route.

First Vietnamese city to carry out e-transportation development plan

Ho Chi Minh City has been chosen as the first locality to carry out studies on the e-transportation development plan, given its huge potential.

Transport ministry green-lights $136 mln to upgrade North-South railroad

The Ministry of Transport has approved upgrade of the North-South railroad at a cost of VND3.1 trillion ($136 million) as it seeks to improve the outdated network.

Vietnam-Europe freight train opens up new transport route

The freight train from Vietnam to Europe is operating very well after putting into operation for more than four months, according to Tran The Hung, General Director of Rail Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company (Ratraco).

Transport ministry proposes $96 mln upgrade to Vietnam-China railway link

The Ministry of Transport has proposed a VND2.2 trillion ($95.95 million) project that would upgrade railway links between Vietnam and China.

Source: NDO/VNA