Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh, Member of the Party Central Committee, attended and delivered keynote remarks at the main venue of the Cat Lai Bridge groundbreaking ceremony in Dai Phuoc Commune. Also present were Vu Hong Van, Secretary of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee and Head of the provincial National Assembly Delegation, along with leaders from ministries, central agencies, Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai Province.

The Cat Lai Bridge project has a total length of more than 11.6 kilometres and a cross-section of six motor vehicle lanes and two non-motorised lanes, designed to modern standards. The main bridge is a cable-stayed structure with two planes of cables and a main span of 450 metres, fully meeting navigation clearance requirements, ensuring safe passage for vessels accessing ports and terminals along the Dong Nai River, and enabling stable and long-term operation.

In addition to the bridge, the project includes investment in approach roads and interchanges that are seamlessly connected with the existing transport network, ensuring traffic safety, drainage, and sustainable operational efficiency. Cat Lai Bridge is one of the transport projects long awaited by the people of Dong Nai for more than three decades.

The total investment of the project is approximately 20.614 trillion VND. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, with completion and operation expected in 2029. The project will be implemented under the public–private partnership (PPP) model, with a consortium led by Construction Corporation No. 1 as the investor.

In his directive remarks at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh emphasised that Cat Lai Bridge is not merely an individual transport work but a strategic connectivity axis, contributing to the completion of the inter-regional transport network between Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province, and providing effective links to Long Thanh International Airport, seaports, industrial zones, urban areas, and national arterial transport routes.

To ensure that the project is implemented on schedule, with quality, efficiency, and sustainability, the Deputy Prime Minister called on ministries and central agencies to continue accompanying and closely coordinating with Dong Nai Province, promptly addressing difficulties related to mechanisms, policies, and investment procedures, and ensuring implementation in accordance with regulations and the spirit of reform and openness.

Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City were urged to further promote cooperation and shared responsibility, particularly in site clearance and resettlement work, ensuring the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of affected residents, and fostering high social consensus — identified as a decisive factor for the project’s success.

For investors and contractors, the Deputy Prime Minister requested maximum mobilisation of resources, application of modern technologies, and scientific construction organisation, with quality, progress, occupational safety, and environmental protection as top priorities, while strictly preventing waste, losses, and negative practices.

On the same morning, in Tam Phuoc Ward, the Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee also held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Long Hung Bridge project, opening a new transport connection between Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City.

The project is implemented in Tam Phuoc Ward and An Phuoc Commune (Dong Nai Province) and Long Phuoc Ward (Ho Chi Minh City). The starting point is on the bridge approach road, about 2.53 kilometres from the Go Cong interchange in Ho Chi Minh City, while the endpoint connects directly to the Bien Hoa–Vung Tau Expressway.

With a total route length of approximately 9.8 kilometres and land use demand of about 52.8 hectares, the main bridge and approach bridges account for roughly 3.5 kilometres. Long Hung Bridge is designed with six motor vehicle lanes and two mixed-traffic lanes, with a total width of 36 metres. Technical specifications for vertical clearance and navigation width fully meet maritime requirements, ensuring smooth operations for vessels accessing ports and wharves along the Dong Nai River.

Long Hung Bridge is a key transport project invested under the PPP model, with a total investment of more than 11.496 trillion VND. The bridge is identified as playing a particularly important role in reducing traffic pressure on existing routes between Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City, while completing the inter-regional road transport network linking Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, and Long Thanh Airport.

The project has a length of more than 5 kilometres, passing through Tran Bien Ward, and is a key project of Dong Nai Province with a total investment of nearly 2 trillion VND from the state budget. Beyond its transport function, the road also serves as an important riverside landscape axis, gradually realising the orientation of urban development towards the Dong Nai River, effectively exploiting riverside space for socio-economic development and improving local residents’ quality of life.

In addition to the three projects above, on the morning of January 15, Dong Nai Province also commenced construction on four other projects, including the groundbreaking of the Nha Bich Bridge on National Highway 14, and three social housing projects: a 2.1-hectare social housing project with 1,800 apartments in Phuoc An Commune; a 3.1-hectare social housing project with 1,490 apartments in Phuoc An Commune; and a mixed social housing and commercial apartment project in the Long Hung Residential Area, Long Hung Ward, with approximately 3,000 apartments.