Construction Starts On National Highway

BINH DINH (VNS)— The Transport Ministry and central Binh Dinh Province started construction of a new National Highway 19 section linking Quy Nhon seaport to National Highway 1A yesterday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the section would facilitate socio-economic development and national security in the province, while enabling it to link Viet Nam's central region and Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

She urged the investor and contractor to complete the project on schedule, while adhering to regulations.

Scheduled to be completed by 2020, the project is expected to cost nearly VND 5.73 trillion (US$280 million).

The entire national route is currently overloaded, and the amount of goods passing through National Highway 19 to Quy Nhon seaport has been constantly increasing.

In 2012, 6.1 million tonnes of goods passed through the seaport, making it the third-most used seaport in the country and first in the central region.

The figure is expected to rise to 12 million tonnes in 2015 and 20 million tonnes in 2020.

The Binh Dinh authorities also asked the NA, Government and other relevant agencies and ministries to consider upgrading the entire highway in the future.

Ngan also acknowledged the province's socio-economic progress with economic growth rate reaching 8.4 per cent in 2012, and asked for the launching of projects that have been allocated funding.

For other projects, including the upgrading part of the National Highway 1A, Phu Cat airport and supporting residents of Nhon Chau Island, she urged the province to submit funding suggestions to the Government. — VNS