DONG NAI WELCOMES SPECIAL FORTUNE FROM TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

It can be said that Dong Nai is witnessing an unprecedented breakthrough in the history of infrastructure development. Major projects not only change the local appearance but also reposition Dong Nai on the national development map.

The following three-part megastory series clarifies the three main pillars in the infrastructure system that are creating breakthrough development momentum for Dong Nai: expressways - beltways, Long Thanh airport urban area and logistics - seaport - high-tech ecosystem. The overall picture shows that: when infrastructure is accelerated, new opportunities will open up. Dong Nai is taking steady steps to become a new growth pole of the entire southern region in the country's new development era - the era of rising up.

For Dong Nai, that opportunity has never been more evident than now – when major national projects are being implemented simultaneously, from airports, seaports, highways to metro. At the end of April, runway No. 1 of Long Thanh International Airport was officially completed. Along with that, traffic route No. 1 (route T1), serving traffic connection for Long Thanh Airport, was also officially opened to technical traffic.

At the same time, hundreds of kilometers of highways that have been and are gradually "taking shape" will also help Dong Nai province realize the goal of using transport infrastructure to lead economic and social development.

Long Thanh Airport's runway No. 1 has been completed and is ready for flight calibration. Photo: Pham Tung

Runway 1 and T1 are the early "finish line" items of the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1. These are also the first "foundation bricks" to realize the goal of shortening the construction time, basically completing the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1 by the end of 2025, which Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has repeatedly emphasized: "There is no change in the goal of completing the project".

Long Thanh Airport project is a "super" project of the country with a total investment of more than 16 billion USD, of which phase 1 of the project has a total investment of nearly 4.7 billion USD.

According to the original plan, Long Thanh Airport Phase 1 will be completed and put into operation in September 2026. However, with the goal of completing the project early to create momentum for economic development in Dong Nai province in particular, the Southern Key Economic Zone as well as the whole country in general, during the visits and inspections of the project site that took place continuously over the past 2 years by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the head of the Government requested to shorten the construction time and complete the project. "Implementing the unchanged goal of the project is to basically complete it in 2025, put into operation, and put into commercial exploitation in the first half of 2026", Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested.

The central steel roof of the Long Thanh Airport passenger terminal phase 1, weighing more than 5.3 thousand tons, was lifted to the top of the roof in early April, marking the completion of one of the most important items of the project. Photo: Pham Tung

According to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), currently, the important items of the Long Thanh Airport Project are being accelerated. ACV has also worked with contractors to adjust the progress of the bidding packages to ensure the project is basically completed by the end of 2025.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Viet, Deputy General Director in charge of ACV, for the passenger terminal project, the "heart" of the Long Thanh Airport Project, to meet the progress, ACV has established a working group to Hong Kong (China), Singapore, and Malaysia to inspect the factory and negotiate with partners to shorten the time to provide equipment as required by the Government.

Traffic route No. 1 (T1) connecting Long Thanh Airport has completed technical traffic opening at the end of April 2025. Photo: Pham Tung

In early April 2025, in a report sent to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Minister of Finance and the Government Office reporting on the working results of the working group with partners supplying aviation equipment for component project 3, Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, ACV said that after the negotiation process, the partners committed to providing the entire aviation equipment system in the third and fourth quarters of 2025.

To ensure the synchronous completion of the Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also requested relevant units to speed up the implementation of the remaining 3 component projects.

On May 10, at the 17th meeting of the State Steering Committee for important national projects and works, key to the transport sector, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh said that for component projects 1, 2 and 4, Long Thanh Airport Project Phase 1, contractors and investors are all committed to basically completing the items before December 31, 2025.

According to the plan, the province has 5 expressways and 2 beltways with a total length of 282km. By the end of 2024, out of the total of nearly 300km of expressways planned for construction in the province, 93km, including 42km of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway Project and 51km of the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay Expressway Project, have been put into operation.

To date, more than 7km of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway Project passing through the province has been completed and put into operation. Photo: Pham Tung

By early 2025, when 7km of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway Project passing through the province is opened to traffic and put into operation, Dong Nai will officially "reach the milestone" of having 100km of expressway. Thereby, Dong Nai will become one of the localities with the largest length of expressway put into operation in the country. At the same time, the "fund" of expressways in the province will be increased by the end of 2025 when the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway Project will basically reach the finish line and the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway and Ring Road 3 - Ho Chi Minh City will also be basically completed and technically opened to traffic.

According to the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), the investor of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway Project, except for the Phuoc Khanh Bridge, the project's sections will be basically completed and put into operation in September 2025. Thus, by that time, Dong Nai will have about 20km more of expressway from the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway Project put into operation.

Meanwhile, with 34km of the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project and 11km of the Ring Road 3 - Ho Chi Minh City Project passing through the province, the consistent goal is to basically complete and open to traffic before December 31, 2025.

The Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway section passing through the province is gradually taking shape. Photo: Pham Tung

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Tan Duc said that for component projects 1, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project and component project 3, Ring Road 3 - Ho Chi Minh City Project invested by the province, the locality has basically completed the site clearance work. Along with that, the province has also requested contractors to speed up construction, making up for the delayed progress due to problems in site clearance work in the past. "The province's goal is to basically complete and open these projects to technical traffic before December 31, 2025 according to the direction of the Prime Minister", Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Tan Duc emphasized.

Construction workers at Component Project 3, Ring Road 3 Project - Ho Chi Minh City section passing through the province to ensure technical traffic opening progress by the end of 2025. Photo: Pham Tung

Meanwhile, for component project 2, the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project through the province, invested by Project Management Board 85 (Ministry of Construction), Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh said that the project's progress is basically following the completion plan by the end of 2025.

Thus, with high determination, as well as the construction progress of basic projects closely following the set plan, by the end of 2025, Dong Nai will be able to receive an additional 65km of expressway from the projects: Ben Luc - Long Thanh, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau and Ring Road 3 - Ho Chi Minh City.