Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the launching ceremony (Source: VNA)Quang Ninh (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attendedthe launch of the Van Don International Airport, Ha Long InternationalPassenger Terminal, and Ha Long-Van Don Expressway in the northern province ofQuang Ninh on December 30.
These infrastructural facilities have a combined investment capital of over 20trillion VND (over 860 million USD) invested by the private investor, SunGroup.
Construction on Van Don International Airport started in 2015 on 288 hectaresin Doan Ket commune, Van Don district. It is the first airport in Vietnam tooperate under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model at a cost of 7.46 trillionVND.
The airport is capable of catering for Boeing 787, 777, and Airbus A350, A320.It is designed to have annual capacity of 2-2.5 million passengers by 2020,which will increase to five million by 2030.
The airport is set to receive 500,000 passenger arrivals/departures inthe first year of operation.
Meanwhile, the Hon Gai International Passenger Terminal, located on BaiChay, Ha Long city, was built under the private-public partnership form betweenSun Group and Quang Ninh province at a cost of 1.03 trillion VND.
It was designed to have a 524-m quay that is able to receive two cruiseships with capacity of up to 225,000 GT with passengers totalling 8,460,including the crew, at the same time.
The port provides a five-star three-storey terminal covering 7,600square meters and a harbor serving 250 tourist boats carrying visitors to worldheritage site Ha Long Bay.
To connect the airport and the port, the Ha Long-Van Don Expressway, built at acost of 11.85 trillion VND, was put into service. It helps shorten the traveltime from Ha Long to Van Don to 50 minutes from the current 90 minutes.
Together with the Ha Long-Hai Phong highway, which opened to traffic inSeptember 9, 2018, the Ha Long-Van Don Expressway stretching over 59 km, createstraffic connections in theeconomic triangle axis of Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh and form the Ha Noi-HaiPhong-Ha Long-Van Don-Mong Cai expressway route, contributing to easing trafficflow on the National Highway 18. It will reduce the travel time from Hanoito Van Don to 2 hours and a half from the current 5 hours.
Addressing the ceremony, PM Phuc reiterated the Party and Stateviewpoints regarding the attraction of private investments into developinginfrastructural facilities and asked cities and provinces nationwide to studythese projects for application in their localities, especially in the contextthat State resources remain limited.
He said these facilities will help Quang Ninh strongly develop tourism, whichis its spearhead economic sector.
He hailed the provincial authorities for their bold mindset in allowing privateinvestors to join in developing major infrastructural facilities, turning theprovince into the fourth largest contributor of the State budget.
The leader asked the local government and Sun Group to work together to developservices in these facilities to draw more tourists, operate these facilitiessafely, and complete auxiliary works to maximize the efficiency of thesefreshly-operated facilities.
Reasserting the importance of the 10th Party Central CommitteeResolution on developing the private economy, the Government leader askedcompetent agencies at all levels to work to turn the private economy into animportant driver of the national economy.
Competent agencies need to encourage and provide all possible conditions forthe private economy to grow in a fast, sustainable, and diverse manner in termsof quality, scale and number, and eliminate all huddles and preconceptions forthe private economy to develop healthily in all sectors and fields that are notbanned by laws, he said.-VNA
VNA
