According to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, 2024 is determined to be a period of accelerating implementation of key transportation projects, a pivotal year for Vietnam to thrive in an era of wealth and prosperity.
At a report to the National Assembly on the implementation of the 2024 socio-economic development plan, the 2025 socio-economic development plan is expected to take place in October, the Prime Minister said, in 2024, Vietnam has made important strides in economic development, with an estimated GDP growth rate of about 6.8-7%, striving to reach and exceed 7%, higher than the target set by the National Assembly (6-6.5%).
Meanwhile, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and many other international organizations evaluate Vietnam as being in a group of few high-growth countries in the region, world.
North-South expressway project
One of the important factors promoting Vietnam’s economic growth is the strong development of transportation infrastructure. As Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh once commented: “One of the most obvious breakthroughs in 2024 is infrastructure development, especially transportation infrastructure such as the North-South expressway project.”
Therefore, starting construction and putting into operation many key transportation projects in 2024 is an important and urgent task for the entire economy. The clearest proof of the Government’s strategic vision is the North-South Expressway project, a key national transportation project with a total investment of about 147,000 billion VND (equivalent to more than 6 million USD) has a total length of about 723 km, starting construction in January 1, 2023.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Ministry of Transport has started construction on 7 road projects on this expressway, and at the same time completed and connected all 653 km of phase 1 of the project, making an important contribution to upgrading the highway. The total length of the country’s highway system is more than 2,021 km.
In fact, the construction process encountered many difficulties, but the Government worked with localities to solve problems, directly inspect and urge important and key national projects and works in the spirit of “3 shifts, 4 crews”, “overcoming the sun, overcoming the rain”, “working through holidays, holidays, New Year”, “only work, no backtracking”, determined to complete as soon as possible with the highest quality.
Notably, implementing determination, in August 2024, the Prime Minister launched the “500 days and nights” peak competition to complete 3,000 km of expressways. Responding to the movement, Mr. Le Quyet Tien, Director of the Construction Investment Management Department (Ministry of Transport), said, “This emulation has recorded many positive changes on construction sites.”
Not only stopping at exhortations, disbursement of funds at North-South expressway projects has become a bright spot. It is estimated that by the end of October 2024, the disbursement output at the Eastern North-South Expressway project in the period 2021 – 2025 (phase 2) will reach 26,496 billion VND, equivalent to more than 70% of the plan, marking decisiveness in implementing strategic infrastructure projects.
Up to now, many projects have great implementation value, are ahead of schedule and registered to shorten the completion time from 3 to 6 months such as: Bai Vot – Ham Nghi (61%), Ham Nghi – Vung Ang (60 %), Vung Ang – Bung (68%), Bung – Van Ninh (62%), Van Ninh – Cam Lo (59%), Van Phong – Nha Trang (76%); Hoai Nhon – Quy Nhon (53%), Quy Nhon – Chi Thanh (51%), Chi Thanh – Van Phong (59%).
In the coming time, with the completion of an additional 1,200 km of expressways, the goal of reaching 3,000 km of expressways by 2025 will become a reality, creating a premise for breakthroughs in traffic connectivity.
The great leap strengthens Vietnam’s position
In the long term, the North-South super high-speed railway project that is being promoted also promises to bring about big changes, contributing to strengthening the national position. Currently, Vietnam is currently in the group of 34 largest economies in the world and in the top 20 leading countries in trade, with GDP in 2024 expected to increase by 7% and attract foreign investment of 35-40 billion USD.
In order for Vietnam to have more room for further development, the Prime Minister said, it is necessary to focus on implementing symbolic projects, capable of “turning the situation around, transforming the state”, typically the project North-South high-speed railway.
According to Dr. Majo George, Lecturer at RMIT Vietnam University, “participating in the field of high-speed rail now, Vietnam can learn from the experiences of predecessors and neighboring countries, avoiding the “cost traps” and maximize efficiency, contributing to consolidating its position as a regional powerhouse in logistics and enhancing its role in global trade.”
At the end of November 2024, with the approval of the investment policy of the North-South High-Speed Railway Project, Vietnam officially laid the foundation for a symbolic project, marking a strong transformation in the future. transport infrastructure sector.
With a total investment of more than 67 billion USD, this route is 1,545 km long, connecting 20 provinces and cities from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. When completed, travel time between the two largest economic centers in the country will be reduced. shortened from more than 30 hours to only 6 hours, if the design speed reaches 350 km/h.
In fact, the preparation process for this project requires extreme concentration. Therefore, Vietnam has been very active in promoting the North-South high-speed railway project through learning and cooperating with international partners and creating conditions for domestic businesses to participate.
In September 2023, before the investment policy of the North-South High-Speed Railway Project was approved, on the occasion of attending the 43rd ASEAN Summit and related conferences in Jakarta, Indonesia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with the Japanese Prime Minister and proposed that Japan study the possibility of supporting Vietnam in developing the North-South high-speed railway project.
In addition, during a business trip in March 2024, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung led a delegation from the Ministry of Planning and Investment to work in Beijing and Shanghai (China), to exchange and discuss experiences in building high-speed railways.
Or in the working program in Nanning City, Guangxi Province, China taking place in September 2024, the Prime Minister welcomed Chinese businesses to participate in implementing high-speed railway projects in Vietnam with suitable form, the group is requested to discuss with the Vietnamese authorities to find a plan to do it immediately, ensuring feasibility and specific effectiveness.
In particular, “the viewpoint of the Party and Government is to give maximum priority to domestic enterprises in all fields, from consulting, construction and installation, to material production; railway industry… Therefore, research by the Ministry of Transport has proposed very specific mechanisms and policies with incentives for domestic training institutions to link with foreign countries, from textbooks, teachers, and lecturers to Train domestically early, or go abroad to train in specific specialties for high-speed railway”, said Director of Railway Project Management Board (Ministry of Transport).
From there, it can be seen that the North-South high-speed railway is an ambitious infrastructure project on a large scale, requiring careful planning and serious implementation. Dr. Majo George shared, “For effective development, Vietnam can divide the project into phases or regions, taking advantage of international expertise for each part. For example, Japan with high-speed rail technology can oversee one segment, while Germany, China, South Korea, Singapore and India undertake other segments according to their technical and logistics strengths. This approach not only diversifies international participation but also promotes financial, technical cooperation and project sustainability.”
The key to achieving a double-digit economy
It can be seen that Vietnam is experiencing a breakthrough in transportation infrastructure with two key projects: the North-South expressway and the North-South high-speed railway. These two projects will contribute to reducing logistics costs and improving national competitiveness.
Currently, Vietnam’s logistics costs account for about 20% of GDP, higher than the world average (10-12%). Completion of 3,000 km of expressway by 2025 and implementation of the entire North-South high-speed railway with a total investment of more than 67 billion USD will help shorten time and reduce transportation costs.
In particular, the North – South Expressway project phase 2 (2021-2025) not only reduces the load on existing arterial roads such as National Highway 1A but also creates a network connecting key economic regions from the North to the North. South, increasing regional and local economic efficiency.
Along with that, high-speed railway, with high speed, shortens the travel time between the two economic centers of the country to only ⅕ of the time compared to before, creating favorable conditions for business activities, import and export, promoting inter-regional trade.
Socially, these two projects will contribute to creating millions of new jobs, both during construction and operation. It is expected that the North-South high-speed railway project is expected to create 200,000 jobs. And right at the investment stage, the investment in the North-South high-speed railway creates a construction market with a value of about 33.5 billion USD; If including the national railway system, urban railways will create a construction market of about 75.6 billion USD; vehicles and equipment is about 34.1 billion USD, the Ministry of Transport said. From there, promoting the development of supporting industries, contributing to the country’s sustainable economic growth.
Transportation infrastructure, with the mission of “leaving the way ahead,” will be the main driving force to bring Vietnam into a new era of development. As the Prime Minister emphasized, “we cannot achieve the development goals for 2030 and 2045 without achieving double-digit growth every year in the coming decades. And we can achieve the double-digit growth target if we can remove institutional barriers and bottlenecks and free up resources for the entire society.”
Along with that, Associate Professor. Dr. Tran Dinh Thien also said, “An infrastructure project that the Prime Minister has tried to solve many times raises the mood. If we solve such difficulties, there is no reason why the economy cannot grow in double digits.”. With this determination, the two North-South expressway projects are laying the foundation for a sustainable, modernized and evenly developed economy.
| Translated by VIFUCO | 24/12/2024
