Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport (MoT) plans to start construction of three sub-projects of the Eastern cluster of the North-South Expressway by the end of September, according to Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The (standing) at a meeting on July 30. Photo: VGP.

These three sub-projects, namely sections of Mai Son – National Highway No.45, Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet, and Phan Thiet – Dau Giay, were previously approved by the National Assembly to change the financing format from public private partnership (PPP) to public investment.

Under the instruction of the government, the MoT has completed the approval processes for technical designs and financial estimates for all three sub-projects, and issued bidding documents for all 13 civil work packages under these projects on August 8.

The bidding process would be implemented in a transparent and fair manner, in compliance with the Law on Bidding and other regulations, The stressed.

For five other sub-projects under the PPP format, the MoT has completed the pre-qualification evaluation process and launched a call for tender in late July. So far, 14 out of 16 bidders have qualified for the first round. The contractor selection process is scheduled to be completed in December, and construction is expected to start in early 2021.

The Eastern North-South expressway project, which is of national priority for investment in the 2017 – 2020 period with an estimated cost of VND118 trillion (US$5.04 billion), includes 11 sub-projects with a total length of 654 kilometers running through 13 provinces and cities. As per the initial plan, three would be financed by the state funding and eight under the PPP and build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts.

However, with the latest change, the project now consists of six projects to be funded by the government and other five under the PPP format.

As of present, over 1,000 kilometers of expressway have been built throughout the country, while an addition of 900 kilometers are set to be completed by end-2021. 

In the 2021-2025 period, Vietnam targets to have at least 2,000 kilometers of expressways and by 2025, the figure would be 4,000 kilometers stretching from the northern province of Lang Son to the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

Including the Eastern North-South expressway, Vietnam would have four major roads across the country, including National highway No.1, Ho Chi Minh highway, and coastal highway.