North-South Expressway: A lever to boost the Central region's economy

The backbone of the national transport system

The North-South Eastern Expressway Project in the 2017-2020 period includes 11 component projects. Except for 8 projects under construction, the remaining 2 projects have been approved by the National Assembly to switch from PPP investment to public investment, including the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son and Nghi Son - Dien Chau sections, which are expected to start construction in June 2021.

North-South Expressway planning map, Eastern region.

This is an effort by authorities at all levels to meet the goal of completing all 11 component projects of the Project to Build a Number of Sections of the North-South Expressway in the East in the 2017-2020 period by 2023 as directed by the National Assembly and the Government. Not only that, most of the above-mentioned North-South Expressway component projects, which are over 650 km long, are newly built, synchronously and located entirely within the territory of 14 provinces and cities in the Central region.

In addition, according to experts, if determined to concentrate resources up to 150,000 billion VND in the next 5 years to open the entire North-South expressway from Huu Nghi border gate to Can Tho city, the Central provinces will have about 700 km more expressway, turning the North-South expressway into a dynamic infrastructure route, contributing to changing the socio-economic landscape of the Central region.

Leverage to boost Central region economy

Recently, the Central region has received great attention and investment in infrastructure from the Central Government, in which the Ministry of Transport has allocated up to 35% of the capital allocated by the Government in the period of 2016 - 2020 for infrastructure projects in this region. With the number of airports, seaports, and highways that have been and will be invested in the next 5 years, the Central region has become the region with the densest and most synchronized traffic works in the country.

Image of the groundbreaking ceremony of the North-South Expressway, Eastern section, Dien Chau - Bai Vot section.

These expressway sections, once fully invested, will synchronously connect the airport network in the Central region, including the airports: Da Nang, Chu Lai (Quang Nam), Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh), Tuy Hoa (Phu Yen), Phu Bai (Hue), Dong Hoi (Quang Binh), Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa), Vinh (Nghe An)... and airports that are being proposed for planning and investment such as Thanh Son airport (Ninh Thuan), Quang Tri airport, Ha Tinh airport.

As the backbone corridor of the entire country, the investment in completing the North-South expressway will connect economic and political centers, key economic zones and industrial parks, in which the 14 central provinces - where the expressway passes through - will have the most advantages.

The Central region is gradually changing its skin and flesh. For many consecutive years, the socio-economic indicators in the Central provinces have reached and exceeded the set plan. The investment environment continues to improve, and all levels of sectors and localities are also interested in solving difficulties and problems for businesses. Along with the completion of the North-South Expressway in the near future, this will be a real lever to promote the Central region's economic breakthrough./.