New Year sees work begin on $589-mln expressway to China border gate

Construction of the first phase of an expressway linking with a China-linked border gate kicked off Monday, the first day of 2024, under the public private partnership (PPP) format.

The 93.35 km Dong Dang-Tra Linh Expressway will connect the Tan Thanh border gate in Van Lang district, Lang Son province with an intersection with National Highway 3 in Quang Hoa district, Cao Bang province.

The project will be implemented by a consortium comprising the Deo Ca Group, ICV Vietnam Investment and Construction, Deo Ca Traffic Infrastructure Investment JSC, and 568 Construction JSC over a period of 36 months.

The VND14.31 trillion ($589 million) project will be implemented under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format. The Deo Ca Group-led consortium, project investor, will contribute VND4.45 trillion ($183 million), or 31.24% of the total investment.

Once operational, the expressway will be a freight route connecting Lach Huyen port in Hai Phong and Trung Khanh district in Cao Bang province with China’s Urumqi, Kazakhstan’s Khorgos and other parts of Central Asia and Europe, boosting socioeconomic development in the northwestern region.

At the ground breaking ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that the government will contribute nearly 70% of the needed capital, crossing the previous regulatory threshold of 50%, under a pilot scheme to stimulate private sector engagement.

The PM asked investors and local governments to cooperate and facilitate construction towards the expressway opening to traffic at the end of 2025 or early 2026. It will help Vietnam reach the target of having 3,000 km of expressways by 2025 and 5,000 km by 2030, he said.