Vung Tau city in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province (Photo courtesy of the provincial People’s Committee)HCMCity (VNA) - The southern coastal province of Ba Ria - VungTau has asked the Government to allocate capital from the centralbudget to speed up progress of national key projects in theprovince over the next five years.
Ofthe 16 major public-invested projects, three of the most important projects arethe Bien Hoa – Vung Tau expressway, Phuoc An Bridge and 991B Road,according to the provincial People’s Committee.
NguyenVan Tho, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, saidthe three national key projects would connect the southern keyeconomic region with the Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep water port, a keyport in the region.
“Theport system can receive large container vessels of up to 200,000deadweight tonnage (DWT) and is capable of international goodstransport, which allows direct export to the EU and the US withouttransshipment, reducing logistics costs and improving the competitiveness ofVietnamese goods,” he said.
Theexpressway, connecting Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai and Ba Ria City in Ba Ria - VungTau, is expected to be completed and opened to traffic by 2025.
Theprovince said it had asked the PM to approve the pre-feasibility study forthe first phase of the project, which will be implemented under thebuild-operate-transfer (BOT) investment model.
Tobuild the expressway, around 34.2km of the road will be built in Dong Nai and19.5km in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Theproject requires an estimated investment of 23.07 trillion VND (995.5 millionUSD), according to the provincial People’s Committee.
Theprovince proposed that 9.95 trillion VND should be sourced from the Statebudget to fund site clearance and construction of the section in theprovince, and that 13.125 trillion VND should come from the private sector.
Thedeveloper of the project will mobilise the remainder from its own budget andbank loans. To recover capital, the investor will be allowed to collect tollfees from road users for about 25 years.
Theexpressway is expected to ease traffic congestion on National Highway 51, andfacilitate travel between Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces and HCMCity and the southern key economic zone.
Anothernational key project is the Phuoc An Bridge, which will connect the Cai Mep-ThiVai port complex with the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway.
The4.3-km bridge will be built in Phu My Town in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and NhonTrach district in Dong Nai province.
Thebridge is expected to cost 4.88 trillion VND. The province has askedfor an allocation of 50 percent of the cost (2.4 trillion VND) fromthe central government budget over the next five years.
Inaddition, the 991B road is an important project with a total cost of 3.95trillion VND, of which the central government has already allocated 920 billionVND. The province has asked the government to arrange an additional 2.22trillion VND over the next five years.
Call for investment in 23 projects
Inaddition to 16 key public-invested projects, the province is calling forinvestment in 23 national key projects, according to a report from theprovincial People’s Committee.
Theseprojects include ports, cultural parks,airports, roads, inspection centres, tourism services, and urban areaworks.
Ofthe 23 projects, nine land plots will seek investment through auction ofland-use rights and public property auctions, including one that has alreadybeen successfully auctioned.
Inaddition, the province has added the April 30th Park in Ba Ria City anda national grid system for Con Dao district to the list of key projectsthat need speeding up.
PhamViet Thanh, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, said the provincewould choose qualified and reputable investors to carry out the projects.
“Relevantlocalities and agencies must follow the progress of each of the key projectsand remove difficulties in a timely way and deal with arisingproblems,” he noted.
Witha coastal line of over 30km, Ba Ria-Vung Tau serves as the country’s majortrade gateway due to its proximity to industrial zones, port complex, majorhighways, and transshipment routes.
Locatedon the southeastern coast, the province is one of the leading foreigndirect investment (FDI) sites in Vietnam./.
VNA
