Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on July 22 inspected major transport and industrial projects in Quang Tri as part of his working trip to the central province.
The PM examined the construction of 65.7km Van Ninh-Cam Lo Expressway, a session of the Eastern North-South Expressway, which starts from Van Ninh commune, Quang Ninh district of Quang Binh province and ends at Cam Hieu commune, Cam Lo district of Quang Tri.
He asked contractors to make use of the favourable weather conditions, mobilising personnel and equipment to speed up the progress of the project with high quality.
The Government leader requested Quang Tri to ensure ground clearance and resettlement efficiency, handing over land for the contractors in a timely manner.
All parties should work hard together to complete the project one quarter earlier than schedule, thus "opening a new development space for the locality and the region," he stated.
Visiting Cam Lo-La Son Expressway, another section of the Eastern North-South Expressway, he ordered the Ministry of Transport and relevant agencies to study expanding the surface width to 23m with four lanes.
The expressway has a total length of 98.35km, and an investment of 6.65 trillion VND (281.09 million USD) mobilised through issuing Government bonds.
It has been opened to traffic in late 2022 with two lanes and a road surface width of 12m.
During the tour, the Government leader also surveyed the progress of National Highway 15D, which connects La Hay International Border Gate with My Thuy port area and Cam Lo-Lao Bao Expressway to form a road in parallel with the East-West Economic Corridor, contributing to increasing trade activities via La Lay International Border Gate, the second biggest of its kind on Quang Tri, connecting the country with Laos and Thailand and forming a developing triangle among Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
He agreed in principle with the project implementation plan, in which Quang Tri will invest in one of the three parts of the project, the Government will take charge of another part and the rest will be invested in the public-private partnership form.
Examining the construction of My Thuy port in Hai Lang district, which was approved in 2019, PM Chinh asked Quang Tri to focus on dealing with obstacles facing its implementation and speed up its progress.
Covering 685 hectares with 10 ports that can handle vessels of up to 100,000 tonnes, the project has a total investment of over 14.2 trillion VND, including 2.14 trillion VND from the State. The project is divided into three phases, with the first one expected to be competed in 2025.
My Thuy port mainly serves the Southeast Quang Tri Economic Zone, industrial zones in Quang Tri and transited goods from Laos and Northeast Thailand on the East-West Economic Corridor route.
Currently, the project still faces problems in site clearance.
During the trip, PM Chinh also inspected the 500-hectare Quang Tri Industrial Park in Dien Sanh township and Hai Truong and Hai Lam communes of Hai Lang district, which has a total investment of over 2 trillion VND. The first phase of the project has been implemented by a joint venture of VSIP, Amata and Sumitomo with an investment of over 500 billion VND since 2021.
It is expected to help promote socio-economic growth of Quang Tri, creating an economic zone along the East-West Economic Corridor connecting Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
In a quick working session with Quang Tri leaders at the project site, PM Chinh asked Quang Tri to concentrate on completing the planning and construction of projects to build and upgrade the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel and local cemeteries, while promptly finalising investment procedures for transport projects.
At the same time, Quang Tri should speed up the disbursement of public investment capital, focusing on the three national target programmes and the socio-economic recovery and development programme, promoting the three growth drivers of investment, export and consumption, and continue implementing the industrial park construction in collaboration with VSIP.
On the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27, 1947-2023), PM Chinh offered incense and flowers to martyrs at the Truong Son National Martyrs’ Cemetery, the Road 9 National Martyrs’ Cemetery, the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, and visited some policy beneficiaries who rendered services to the nation in Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces.
He requested ministries, sectors, agencies and localities as well as the community to pay attention to caring for the graves of the martyrs at the cemeteries, while continuing to search for and repatriate remains of fallen soldiers./.