Economist underlines railway necessity for Mekong Delta development

A railway route linking Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, with Mekong Delta is essential for the major agricultural region to take off, said a senior economist.

Addressing a workshop held on Tuesday in HCMC to discuss ways to assist the delta’s development, expert Tran Du Lich said such a railway system has been proposed for a long period, but that proposals remain on the table.

"Poor traffic infrastructure, slow changes in the agricultural structure, and problematic human resources development are the three main reasons behind the delta’s lower-than-expected development despite its high potential," he noted.

There is currently no railway operating in the delta region, though one ran from Saigon (now HCMC) to My Tho town in the 19th and 20th centuries. Operations stopped in the late 1950s.

Can Tho authorities have proposed construction of a $7-billion HCMC-Can Tho express railway before 2030 to catch up with Mekong Delta transport demand.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had previously added a railway project linking the two cities to the government’s plan on railway network development in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

The delta comprises Can Tho as its hub and the 12 provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang. It is one of the largest and most fertile deltas in Southeast Asia, and Vietnam’s biggest food, fisheries and fruit production region.

At the workshop, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Duy Lam underlined the delta’s significance and said the central government, which is aware of the region’s potential, has paid close attention to developing infrastructure facilities.

In terms of expressway development, he said, the overall cost to build is estimated to be 1.3-1.5 times higher than that in other regions as the delta houses many rivers and wetland areas.

To date, the combined length of expressways in service in the delta is 91 kilometers. A total of 1,180 kilometers of expressways have been planned for the region until 2030, Lam added.