The Ministry of Transport (MoT), localities, and contractors are tasked with completing 361 kilometers of the North-South expressway in 2022.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh. Source: VGP

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh stressed the deadline in a meeting held today [February 18] to discuss the progress of the Eastern North-South Expressway project for the 2017-2020 period that includes 11 sub-projects with a combined length of 652.86 kilometers.

According to Thanh, this project is of national priority and receives special attention from the Party, National Assembly, the Government, and the public.

For the past months, the Government has been holding monthly meetings with localities to timely address any concerns during the construction process, especially the site clearance and lack of construction materials.

From now on until late 2022, Thanh expected concerning parties to complete 361 kilometers of the expressway, including sections of Mai Son (Ninh Binh Province) – National Highway No.45 (Thanh Hoa Province) with a length of 63.37 kilometers; section Cam Lo (Quang Tri Province) – La Son (Hue) of 98.3 kilometers; and section Vinh Hao (Binh Thuan Province ) – Dau Giay (Dong Nai Province) of 199.8 kilometers.

Overview of the meeting.

Thanh also requested contractors to push for the completion of 149 kilometers of the expressway in 2023, including Highway No.45- Nghi Son (43.28 kilometers); Nghi Son – Dien Chau (50 kilometers); Nha Trang – Cam Lam (49.1 kilometers), and My Thuan Bridge 2 (6.6 kilometers).

The deputy prime minister noted the Government would monitor the progress monthly and impose strict punishment for failure to meet the deadline.

At the meeting, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The noted the project still lacks nearly 12.6 million cubic meters of earth fill, but the issue is set to be solved in March.

The said of the 11 sub-projects, seven are on track and four are behind the schedule, but adding contractors are accelerating the progress to ensure the completion on time.

He said any contractors that fail to meet the deadline would not be permitted to bid for future projects.

The Eastern North-South expressway with an investment capital of US$6.5 billion is a major step for  Vietnam to achieve the target of having at least 4,000 kilometers of expressways in the 2021-2025 period.

With the Eastern North-South expressway, Vietnam would have four major trans-Vietnam highways, including National highway No.1, Ho Chi Minh highway, and coastal highway.