Key transport projects urged to be accelerated

Bach Dang Bridge, which links Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city, under construction (Photo: VNA)

Speaking at the Cabinet’s teleconference with localities on July 2, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung asked the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to press on with solving problems related to build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects. The Ministry of Planning and Investment needs to remove obstacles to projects using foreign loans like the urban railway project in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the MoT have to speed up key transport projects and soon submit a prefeasibility study report on the North-South express railway, he said.

Earlier, MoT Minister Nguyen Van The said his ministry will carry out many major projects in the time ahead, including the eastern North-South Expressway with 11 sub-projects and the My Thuan 2 Bridge. It is making a plan on the North-South express railway and will report this project to the National Assembly in 2019.

He added that many localities want to upgrade their airports like Chu Lai in Quang Nam province and Cat Bi in Hai Phong city, but this issue needs time and close coordination with localities to seek the best plans.

At the meeting, Deputy PM Dung also requested the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to boost efforts to support people in the northern mountainous, central and Mekong Delta regions, recently hit by natural disasters and climate change.

He underlined the need to develop social housing for low-income earners and workers in industrial zones, which hasn’t received enough attention in many localities. He noted that helping workers to have stable accommodation is critical to ensuring social security and development of industrial zones./.

VNA