The Prime Minister worked with Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces on the implementation of two expressway projects

On the afternoon of November 14, in Thach An district, Cao Bang province, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh worked with Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces on the implementation of the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang and Dong Dang (Lang Son) - Tra Linh (Cao Bang) border gate expressway projects.

Attending the meeting were Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Transport; leaders of the ministries of Finance, Natural Resources and Environment; leaders of the Government Office; leaders of the Military Telecommunications Group, Viet Nam Electricity Group, Deo Ca Group, and project enterprises.

On the side of Lang Son province, there were: Mr. Hoang Van Nghiem, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Mr. Ho Tien Thieu, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of relevant departments and sectors.

Cao Bang province had: Mr. Tran Hong Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Mr. Hoang Xuan Anh, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of departments and sectors.

The Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project and the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway phase 1 have a total length of 153 km. These are national key projects in the transport sector, which started construction in early 2024 and are expected to be completed and put into operation in 2026.

Regarding the progress of implementation, up to now, in the site clearance work of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway project phase 1, the People's Committees of the districts in the two provinces have handed over 87.4/93.35 km of clean land (equivalent to 93.6%).

For the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project, the People's Committees of districts and city of Lang Son province have handed over 39.9/59.87 km of land (reaching 67%) and strive to hand over 100% of the land by the end of December 2024.

At the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway project, the contractor mobilized 1,020 personnel, 357 machines and equipment, deployed 36 teams simultaneously to approach and organize construction day and night. Currently, the project has disbursed 1,429 billion VND.

For the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project, contractors have mobilized 570 personnel, 350 machines and equipment, and deployed 30 construction teams according to the handed-over land segments. The project has disbursed 690 billion VND.

At the meeting, the representative of Cao Bang province proposed that the Prime Minister soon approve the adjustment of the investment policy of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway project, phase 1, so that the locality has a basis to complete the investment procedures for phase 2 of the project under the form of public-private partnership (PPP) with the state budget supporting 70% of the total investment of the project, phase 2.

Lang Son province and representatives of investors and project enterprises proposed that the Prime Minister allow an increase in the proportion of state budget capital participating in the project to over 70% of the total investment to increase the feasibility of the financial plan for the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate expressway project; proposed that the National Assembly supplement regulations allowing state capital to participate and support in the exploitation phase for BOT projects (contracts signed before the promulgation of the Law on Public-Private Partnership) that have decreased revenue due to objective reasons; proposed that the Prime Minister direct relevant ministries and sectors to remove difficulties in credit contracts from commercial banks to speed up the project's construction progress for early completion in 2026.

The Ministry of Transport asked contractors to focus all resources and take advantage of favorable weather to speed up construction progress at the two projects to promote disbursement of capital from the state budget allocated for the projects.

In his concluding remarks at the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang and Dong Dang - Tra Linh border gate expressway projects are important national transport projects in 2024, playing a particularly important role in connecting transport infrastructure between the Red River Delta region and the northern mountainous border provinces. These projects also help Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces to clear traffic infrastructure bottlenecks, contributing to promoting socio-economic development, poverty reduction, and building a comprehensively strong border area.

In addition, the timely implementation of the projects also contributes to the successful implementation of the Party and State's policy of striving to complete the construction of 3,000 km of expressways by 2025 and to complete the construction of 5,000 km of expressways nationwide by 2030.

The Prime Minister commended the leaders and people of the two provinces for performing well the assigned tasks in implementing the two expressway projects, especially the site clearance work. He also commended the investors for overcoming difficulties to organize the construction of the items on the route.

The head of the Government requested the two provinces, investors, and project enterprises to continue to focus on leadership and direction, speed up site clearance, and construction of items with the spirit of "overcoming the sun and rain", "working in 3 shifts and 4 teams" to speed up project construction, striving to complete the entire route at the 2 projects in 2025. At the same time, the Prime Minister requested commercial banks to continue to support, finance, and disburse credit capital so that the projects can accelerate construction progress.

Regarding the recommendations of the two provinces and the project enterprise, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Transport to send an official document to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to resolve the proposal of Cao Bang province on approving the adjustment of the project implementation policy. The Ministry of Transport shall coordinate with the Government Office to advise and draft a document for the Prime Minister to send to the National Assembly and the National Assembly Chairman for consideration and removal of difficulties related to increasing the proportion of state budget capital participating in the implementation of the two expressway projects.