The ring road No.4 project once competed would serve as the growth driving force for both Hanoi and the capital metropolitan area.

Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung at the conference. Photos: Kinhtedothi

Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung made the statement in a conference on May 6, discussing the plan to build the ring road No.4 that connects 14 districts from three northern cities/provinces of Hanoi, Hung Yen and Bac Ninh with a total length of 98 kilometers.

Covering an area of more than 24,000 square kilometers and an estimated population of 22 million, Hanoi metropolitan area, with Hanoi as the core city, includes provinces of Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Ha Nam, Hoa Binh, Bac Giang, Phu Tho and Thai Nguyen.

“During the course of economic development, strengthening inter-provincial linkage to boost growth for a large region is an irreversible trend,” Dung stated, adding the target of upgrading inter-provincial infrastructure for the Red river delta and Hanoi metropolitan area has been included in the resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress for economic development in the 2021-25 period.

In this context, the construction of the the bypass would not only address traffic congestion, but also open up room for further economic linkage and trade cooperation among Hanoi and other cities/provinces of Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc or Bac Giang.

“Hanoi and its neighboring cities as a result could further boost socio-economic development in both urban and rural areas by attracting more investment capital,” said Dung.

Delegates at the conference

At the conference, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Duong Duc Tuan informed two options for the construction of the project, with the first without overpass costing VND105 trillion (US$4.56 billion) and the second including two bridges crossing the Red river with VND135 trillion (US$5.86 billion).

“Give such high estimated costs, public financing would be unfeasible,” said Tuan, adding the authorities would take into consideration of mixed investment mechanism of public investment, public-private partnership (PPP), and build-operate-transfer (BOT) for the project.

Regarding this issue, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The supported the proposal of giving Hanoi the role as the focal point in conducting the project’s feasibility study.