“Flying dream” will soon take off Lao Cai

Lao Cai province currently has the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway and the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong high-speed railway project expected to start construction at the end of this year. It is undeniable that this connection has significantly shortened the travel time from Hanoi to Lao Cai, but compared to air travel, there is still a large gap. Therefore, the hope that the Sa Pa airport project will soon be invested in and built will help Lao Cai solve the problem of connectivity, hoping to bring stronger development to the locality in the future, especially in the field of tourism and investment attraction.

Every day, Lao Cai station welcomes thousands of passengers, including many foreign tourists and those from the southern provinces, especially on weekends or holidays. Trinh Viet Linh's family from Ho Chi Minh City came to Lao Cai for tourism. To Hanoi , it only took his family about 2 hours to travel by air, but from Hanoi to Lao Cai, about 300 km away, it takes about 8 hours to travel by train. If traveling by highway, it also takes about 4 hours. Not to mention the time to travel from the airport to the bus station or train station.

The first time coming to Lao Cai, Mr. Linh's family planned to stay in Sa Pa for 5 days. He said that if Lao Cai province had an airport and a direct flight from Ho Chi Minh City, his family would choose to travel by air. Because, the travel time and waiting time would be shortened, much more convenient.

My family has small children, having to travel in many stages, the time is very inconvenient. I know, Lao Cai province is having an airport construction project, this project if implemented soon will be much more convenient for tourists like my family when coming to Lao Cai.

- Mr. Trinh Viet Linh, tourist from Ho Chi Minh City.

On the same train as Linh's family, Mr. Albert Yehuda and his wife, an American tourist, got off the train and went to the platform to wait for a car to continue their journey to Sa Pa Tourist Area. He chose to travel to Sa Pa because it is famous for its majestic scenery, cool climate, rich cultural identity, friendly people and unique cuisine. Talking to us, Mr. Albert Yehuda said that he had just come from Ha Long, Quang Ninh and planned to stay in Lao Cai for 3 days. Currently, traveling by train is also very good, but if Lao Cai had an airport, his and his wife's schedule would be different. "I will choose to fly from Lao Cai to Hue or vice versa for my journey," Mr. Albert Yehuda shared.

Not only in the tourism sector, Lao Cai province also has a great advantage in border gates. To effectively exploit this advantage, the province is having many solutions to invest in connecting infrastructure, building smart border gates... to attract domestic and foreign investors.

According to Mr. Vuong Trinh Quoc - Head of the Lao Cai Economic Zone Management Board, the province having an airport will have a great impact on attracting investors. He analyzed that for investors, the issue is time. For example, investors from Ho Chi Minh City when coming to invest in Lao Cai, they fly to Noi Bai airport, from here to Lao Cai by highway also takes about 4 hours. But if Lao Cai has an airport, there is a direct flight to Ho Chi Minh City, the time can be shortened to half. Similarly, if investors are from abroad, in case there is an international flight, it will be much more convenient.

Air routes will help solve the problem of geographical distance and travel time for domestic and international investors. This is the biggest advantage of air routes.

- Mr. Vuong Trinh Quoc - Head of Lao Cai Provincial Economic Zone Management Board.

According to statistics from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in the past 10 months, the whole province welcomed about 9.4 million visitors, reaching 91.6% of the yearly plan, of which the number of international visitors is estimated at nearly 1.2 million. The above figures show the growing attraction of Lao Cai on the international tourism map. Lao Cai province has great potential for tourism and border gate economy, but with the existing railway and road transport system, it has not been able to fully exploit the above advantages.

At the recent working session of Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra with Lao Cai province, comrade Trinh Viet Hung - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council mentioned: Lao Cai is a locality with many potentials and advantages in attracting investment, but why is it still not attractive? He said that the problem lies in the transportation sector. Lao Cai's strategy to develop must quickly have two routes: high-speed railway and airway. Meanwhile, the high-speed railway Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong is being actively deployed, expected to start construction at the end of this year. Regarding the airway, the province has proactively prepared more than 370 hectares of clean land, as long as there are investors, it can be implemented immediately. In the past time, the province has also actively called for and attracted investment, but investors have not really paid attention. Without an airport, it is difficult to increase the number of international tourists to the locality. At the same time, limit the attraction of foreign investors and southern provinces to fields with great comparative advantages such as: industry, trade, tourism, border gate economy...

The above analysis shows that it is very meaningful for Lao Cai province to have an airport, along with the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong high-speed railway expected to start construction at the end of this year and the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway being expanded to 4 lanes, which will help the province complete its multimodal transport infrastructure. In particular, having an airport will shorten travel time, helping Lao Cai "get closer" to investors and tourists, enhancing competitiveness and attractiveness for the local economy.

Having a high-speed railway in the future and a highway is clearly not enough for Lao Cai province to reach out and attract tourists and investors from the southern provinces and internationally. The expectation that the Sa Pa Airport project will soon have an investor and be implemented is very important to the strategies determined by the province for the coming period.

My family has small children, having to travel in many stages, the time is very inconvenient. I know, Lao Cai province is having an airport construction project, this project if implemented soon will be much more convenient for tourists like my family when coming to Lao Cai.

Air routes will help solve the problem of geographical distance and travel time for domestic and international investors. This is the biggest advantage of air routes.

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