Can Gio - From a quiet land to a new growth engine of Ho Chi Minh City.

(CLO) Many people were surprised when returning to Can Gio 6 months after the 2,870-hectare sea-encroaching urban area project here was started. The "green oasis" is changing rapidly, promising to become a new growth engine of Ho Chi Minh City on its journey to the sea and become rich from the sea.

From a "cornerstone" to an infrastructure hub.

Welcoming guests from afar at an event on the morning of October 23rd, Mrs. Tran Thi The, a resident of Can Gio commune, could not hide her joy.

“ I’ve lived here for decades, and getting around was incredibly difficult back then. To get to Saigon, you had to wait for the ferry, which took a long time. The roads were narrow and muddy. Anyone with urgent business couldn’t get through. But things are different now,” Mrs. The shared.

"Different" - as Ms. The proudly puts it - is the sight of streams of cars and people lining up to head to Can Gio, a place once overlooked on the vibrant development map of the country's largest economic hub.

Ms. The (on the right) and the people of Can Gio are filled with pride and hope as their hometown continues to change.

More than anyone else, Ms. The clearly feels that her hometown of Can Gio is entering a new historical phase. The "single-lane" situation and the reliance on ferries to cross the river are about to end as a series of modern infrastructure projects are being concentrated in the area.

Exactly six months ago, the massive 2,870-hectare reclaimed land mega-city officially commenced construction. The people of Can Gio call it a "blockbuster" project that has awakened a land that had been dormant for decades. Today, along the once pristine coastline, the multi-billion dollar construction site is progressing at an unprecedented pace.

"I was astonished by the record-breaking speed of construction," exclaimed Associate Professor Pham Van Song, Rector of the Eastern University of Technology, after witnessing firsthand how hundreds of hectares of sea had been leveled and the foundation prepared in just a few months.

In parallel, the Phu My Hung - Can Gio high-speed railway line, with a design speed of 350 km/h, is expected to begin construction by the end of 2025, connecting the southern center of Ho Chi Minh City with Can Gio in a short time.

Also in 2026, the Can Gio bridge will be started, shortening travel time from the center of Ho Chi Minh City to Can Gio to just 45-60 minutes.

At the same time, the Rung Sac interchange, with an investment of 3,000 billion VND, directly connecting to the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway, will also be implemented. Expected to be completed in 2028, the project will open up connectivity between Can Gio and the Southwest and Southeast regions, including Long Thanh International Airport.

In particular, the Can Gio - Vung Tau sea route, over 10 km long, 50m wide, and with 8 lanes, which Vingroup has just proposed, promises to open a strategic connection axis between Can Gio and the tourist center and seaport of Vung Tau, helping to shorten travel time to less than 15 minutes.

Many infrastructure projects are expected to begin construction in 2026, breaking Can Gio's isolation.

Furthermore, a golden triangle of infrastructure is gradually forming as Can Gio is being comprehensively planned for road, rail, waterway, and maritime transport. Spanning 571 hectares, the Can Gio International Transshipment Port, with an investment of 50,000 billion VND, is designed to become a new symbol of Vietnam's maritime economy. Phase 1 of the project is scheduled to begin operation in 2027 and be fully completed before 2045, elevating Can Gio to the level of leading regional logistics centers such as Singapore and Busan.

“Now that there’s a bridge, a high-speed railway, and a modern urban area built on reclaimed land, I’m very excited. In the future, more tourists will come, people will be able to do business, and life will surely improve significantly,” Mrs. The said with a radiant smile as she envisioned the future.

Prospects for even greater growth than Phu My Hung and Thu Thiem.

According to Associate Professor Pham Van Song, the rise of Can Gio is inevitable, especially with the presence of the "giant" Vingroup and its Vinhomes Green Paradise mega-city. Thanks to this, Can Gio is transforming from an ecological zone on the fringes of development into a new growth engine for Ho Chi Minh City.

Transportation and urban infrastructure are the key drivers that unlock the potential of Can Gio, activating the flow of people, money, and value. When geographical distances are eliminated, the potential of this land of "golden forests and silver seas" is unleashed.

“All modes of transportation are available in Can Gio. The GRDP will grow rapidly with the investment and construction process. The number of residents and tourists coming here will increase dramatically. The people of Can Gio will be the first to directly benefit from these projects, and their lives will become increasingly prosperous,” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Song emphasized.

Vinhomes Green Paradise will be a magnet helping Can Gio attract 40 million tourists per year.

From a market perspective, Mr. Dinh Minh Tuan, Director of Batdongsan.com.vn in the Southern region, said that the number of searches for Can Gio has tripled since the beginning of the year. After the Vinhomes Green Paradise project commenced construction, the number of searches for Can Gio real estate doubled.

"Just one project has heated up the entire Southern market," Mr. Tuan assessed.

According to the expert, from 1993 to the present, Ho Chi Minh City's real estate market has experienced "golden decades" linked to urban planning and infrastructure investment waves. In the 1990s, the investment in Nguyen Van Linh road completely transformed the face of the southern area, attracting approximately 2 million people to this new center. In the 2010s, the completion of the Thu Thiem tunnel and Thu Thiem bridge brought more than 1 million people to the new eastern center. Investors who followed the infrastructure wave at that time reaped huge profits. Can Gio today is at a similar starting point, but with even greater momentum.

“Currently, Can Gio's population is only about 80,000 people, and the only bottleneck in the past has been the lack of connectivity. After the implementation of projects and significant investments in infrastructure and urban development, Can Gio will become a focal point in the near future, and its development speed will surpass that of previous centers,” Mr. Tuan commented.

Can Gio is rewriting its own journey – the journey of a land rising from groundbreaking connectivity and modern urban infrastructure. The synergy of bridges, high-speed rail, sea crossings, and especially the world- leading ESG++ megacity will create a “new development DNA” for Ho Chi Minh City in the new era.

Source: https://congluan.vn/can-gio-tu-vung-dat-lang-le-thanh-dau-tau-tang-truong-moi-cua-tp-hcm-10315609.html