The central coastal province of Ninh Thuan has approved a plan for a VND2.1 trillion ($88.86 million) road connecting the deep-water Ca Na seaport to the Central Highlands.
Per the decision approved on Tuesday, the 41-kilometer road will take six years to complete and will be funded by the provincial and central budgets. It will also include a three-kilometer section connecting Ca Na Industrial Park to Ca Na seaport.
Connecting Lam Dong province in the Central Highlands, the road is expected to facilitate trade and tourism in the region, including delivery of bauxite and farm produce.
Last December, Ninh Thuan province kicked off the construction of a 15-kilometer road linking the Ca Na seaport to National Highway 1 and the North-South Expressway. The VND903 billion ($38.25 million) road is scheduled for completion in 2025.
The Ca Na seaport is invested by Trungnam Ca Na Port, under energy giant Trungnam Group. The 108-hectare facility is designed to welcome ships of up to 100,000 deadweight tonnage and handle 3.3 million tons of goods annually.
Wharf 1A at the port welcomed the first transport ship in April 2022, carrying 3,000 tons of goods. Another wharf is under construction, but faces a shortage of construction materials.
Ninh Thuan is aiming to become a national energy hub by raising its capacity by 3,000 MW to 6,500 MW in 2025, including 3,440 MW from solar power, 1,200 MW from wind power, 360 MW from hydropower, and 1,500 MW from LNG, with a total output of 11.2 billion kWh. The target for 2030 is to raise the capacity by an additional 5,300 MW to 11,800 MW.
Trungnam Group is also the developer of an LNG complex at Ca Na seaport after acquiring the project from steel giant Hoa Sen Group in 2021.
Ninh Thuan’s gross regional domestic product grew 7.42% year-on-year in 2022, according to the provincial statistics office. The industry-construction sector accounted for the biggest portion with 35.6%, followed by services with 30.7%, and agriculture-forestry-fisheries with 28.4%.
Mining group Vinacomin is conducting two bauxite projects in the Central Highlands, namely Tan Rai mine in Lam Dong province and Nhan Co province in Dak Nong province with the annual capacity of 650,000 tons each. The state giant was approved to exploit 260 million tons from the two mines, out of 3.2 billion tons from 12 mines in the Central Highlands.