North expressway speeds up trade

The new route will cut travel time between Hanoi and Haiphong to less than an hour
- Photo: Doan Viet Ha

In May, the expressway’s investor, Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment Joint Stock Company (VIDIFI), opened the 22.7 kilometre section that links the junction with the National Road 10 to the junction with Pham Van Dong street in Haiphong. Most recently, on September 26, VIDIFI opened an additional 52.5km section to traffic that links the junction with the National Road 39 in the northern province of Hung Yen with the junction at National Road 10 in Haiphong’s An Lao district. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the section, Nguyen Van Tinh, general director of VIDIFI confirmed that the expressway would be completed in December 2015.

The project worth VND45.6 trillion ($2.13 billion), and which began construction in May 2008, is 105.5km long, with a maximum speed limit of 120km per hour. The route is 100 metres wide, with six lanes for traffic and two lanes for emergency stops.

As part of the most important and modern expressway system in the country, this route will shorten travel times between cities and provinces in the north of Vietnam, cutting the journey between Hanoi and Haiphong from over two hours to less than an hour.

According to Vietnam’s road infrastructure development plan towards 2020, ratified by the prime minister, the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway and the expressways linking Hanoi to Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, and Ninh Binh will allow localities to realise their economic potential by reducing transportation costs, thus enhancing the competitiveness of the region. The expressway is also part of the ASEAN road corridor and part of the implementation of the co-operation agreement between countries in the wider Mekong River region.

In addition to boosting trade between provinces in the Red River Delta, the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway will also become an important facilitator of trade between the north of Vietnam and the rest of the world. The expressway is directly connected to the Tan Vu-Lach Huyen road and bridge, linking it to the Lach Huyen deep sea port (the Haiphong international gateway port) – the biggest port in the north of Vietnam.

With these mega projects, companies operating in Haiphong can benefit from significantly reduced operating and distribution costs. As a result, the Dinh Vu/Deep C industrial zone (IZ), an area where three national-scale infrastructure projects (the Lach Huyen port, the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway, the Cat Bi international airport) meet, will become a hub for investment, logistics, manufacturing, and trade.

According to Frank Wouters, general director of Dinh Vu IZ JSC, one of the most important advantages of the Dinh Vu IZ is the fact that it is the only IZ directly linked to the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway and the Tan Vu-Lach Huyen expressway, and is the closest IZ to the Lach Huyen international deep sea port and the Cat Bi international airport.

In the proximity of the existing IZ, there are two other on-going transport projects, namely the Bach Dang bridge and the Halong-Haiphong expressway linking to the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway, both of which are expected to be finished at the end of 2016. As such, the shareholders of Dinh Vu IZ JSC have further plans to make use of the nationally strategic transport system being built in the area. The expansion to the surrounding of the existing Dinh Vu IZ and the Lach Huyen deep sea port will eventually create the Deep C IZ of 2,000 hectares lying amidst a deep sea port, an airport, and expressways.

Updates on the infrastructure developments are available at the investment seminar: “Haiphong Mega Infrastructure Cluster – Gateway of the North of Vietnam” being held in Hanoi on November 10 at the Sheraton Hotel and a site visit to Haiphong on November 13. For more information and registration please contact: info@dinhvu.com