As of this time, the main obstacle hindering the implementation of the road project was tackled by the prime minister when he gave the thumbs up to use local budget funding to build a stretch of the road linking Ha Long (the capital city of Quang Ninh) to Bach Dang Bridge.

Accordingly, Quang Ninh People’s Council has proposed using at least VND1 trillion ($47.6 million) each year from the provincial budget to fund the project. Also, local government bonds worth a total VND800 billion ($38 million) have been earmarked to supply additional capital for the project. The Ministry of Transport has committed VND1.41 trillion ($67 million) to help build the road.

“With a projected total investment of VND5.824 trillion ($277.3 million), we are preparing the necessary finance to ensure the project reaches its timeline,” said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Trung.

The stretch of road is one of two separate projects being developed by the Quang Ninh Department of Transport that will ultimately connect Ha Long City with the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway.

It will span 20km, consist of four lanes and has a designed velocity of 100km per hour. The total investment of VND5.824 trillion ($277.3 million) includes VND3.9 trillion ($189.5 million) for construction, VND197 billion ($9.3 million) for land acquisition, and VND1.16 trillion ($55.5 million) for provisionary funds.

The other project involves building the 3.05km long Bach Dang Bridge, and associated access roads for VND7.38 trillion ($351.8 million).

This project is being carried out by Japan’s SE Group under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, which envisages sourcing preferential loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

One of the main conditions required by SE in its implementation of the project is accelerating the construction of the road linking Ha Long city to Bach Dang Bridge.

At present, preparations to start the first packages of the road projects have been completed and a ground breaking ceremony is planned on September 13.

“This is a crucial transport project of the northern economic area, helping to connect the Hanoi-Haiphong-Quang Ninh development triangle and tap into the advantages of border gates, seaports and airports in the region. So it needs immediate investment,” said Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang.

The road system connecting Ha Long city to Hanoi-Haiphong expressway is expected to go into use by 2016.

Haiphong city and Quang Ninh province are important parts of the northern pivotal economic area and also belong to the Vietnam-China economic co-operation corridor.

Quang Ninh is regarded as a dynamic development area that is growing at a robust pace. However, the transport network of the region is lagging far behind development demands.

At present, apart from National Highway 10, which links Quang Ninh to southern locations through Haiphong city, National Highway 18, which serves as the main route connecting Quang Ninh to other locations in the northern pivotal economic area and Mong Cai international border gate have proven they can only barely meet current transport demand.