Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged ministries, Tien Giang province, investors and bankers to work to ensure the progress and equality of the Trung Luong – My Thuan expressway – a key route for the development of the Mekong Delta while chairing a meeting of permanent Cabinet members in Hanoi on July 30.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (C) chairs the meeting of permanent Cabinet members
(Photo: VNA)

The PM underlined the political and economic significance of the route with the Mekong Delta – a key economic region consisting of 13 city and provinces with a population of over 20 million.

He said he had assigned the Ministry of Transport to preside over a study on a high-speed railway line for the region as well as develop regional waterway and logistics systems along with seaports.

As a competent State agency for the project, Tien Giang province is responsible to the Government and the Mekong Delta for investment in building this expressway, he said.

The route should be opened to traffic by 2020 and inaugurated in 2021, he said.

Besides ensuring the progress, the quality must be a top requirement, he stressed.

The PM asked Tien Giang, the Transport Ministry and relevant agencies to seek a final solution for procedures related to design appraisal and defining material prices on the legal basis. 

The capital construction investment procedures must be solved quickly, and first of all the total investment must be approved, he said.

He praised Tien Giang for completing 99.4 percent of land clearance and urged the province to resolve the legitimate rights and interests of locals.

The Government leader noted that the project must ensure progress, quality, efficiency, publicity, transparency, and accountability without corruption and negative phenomena.

The Trung Luong – My Thuan expressway is designed with a length of 51km and width of 17km with a total cost of over 9.6 trillion VND (417 million USD). It is built under the build-operate-transfer form.