The government on March 1 held an online meeting with cities and provinces about the pre-feasibility studies of five key national transport projects.

The projects are the Beltway 4-Hanoi, the Beltway 3-Ho Chi Minh City, Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang Expressway, Khanh Hoa-Buon Ma Thuot Expressway; and Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway. Altogether, they have a total length of over 500km.

Chairing the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said infrastructure development, including transport infrastructure, is one of the country’s three strategic pillars. The government targets to have 2,000km of expressways in this term.

The country is developing over 700km of expressway according to the mid-term public investment plan. The meeting discussed the construction of an additional 500km of expressways, beltways, and other projects in the future.

Over the past 20 years, Vietnam built around 1,000km of expressways.

The government leader asks ministries, agencies, and localities to closely collaborate and ensure their construction schedule and quality.

He also asked them to intensify public-private partnerships to attract private investment in transport development. In principle, the central government allocates 50 per cent of capital, and the rest must be covered by localities.