By 2045, complete construction of 9,000 km of highways

(Chinhphu.vn) - The goal by 2045 is for the whole country to have a modern road network, connecting and developing reasonably between modes of transport, completing the construction of 9,000 km of highways and investing in the construction and upgrading of 30,000 km of national highways.

The expressway system has developed rapidly, the total network length is more than 20 times longer than the period 2001 - 2010, - Photo: Construction Newspaper

The Vietnam Road Administration has just sent a document to the Ministry of Construction to contribute ideas to the project "Developing a synchronous and modern infrastructure system to make our country a developed country by 2045".

The highway system is developing rapidly.

According to this agency, as of August 2025, the whole country will have nearly 611,000 km of roads, an increase of 77% compared to 2010. Of which, there are more than 25,700 km of national highways, accounting for 4.22%, an increase of 49% compared to 2010, expressways with 17 routes with a length of 2,268 km, accounting for 0.37%; the local road system is nearly 583,000 km long, accounting for more than 95%, an increase of 84% compared to 2010.

The North-South Eastern Expressway system, urban beltways, and a series of horizontal axes and regional connections are being urgently deployed, with about 3,000 km expected to be put into operation by the end of 2025.

According to the Vietnam Road Administration, in the 2021-2025 period, the orientation of "unleashing all resources, leading public investment, and activating private investment" has created impressive developments in the transport infrastructure sector. The total investment capital for roads in this period is expected to reach about VND450,000 billion, mainly from the state budget for expressway projects.

Previously, the 2011-2015 period was considered a "bright spot" when a series of breakthrough policies mobilized about 380,000 billion VND from non-budgetary capital, 2.1 times higher than the 2006-2010 period and 3.7 times higher than the 2001-2005 period.

Thanks to that, the expressway system has developed remarkably, the total network length is more than 20 times longer than in the period 2001 - 2010, contributing to connecting regions, border gates, seaports, airports, promoting socio -economic development.

However, the Department of Roads also frankly acknowledged that the transport infrastructure is still not synchronous, the expressway network is still lacking compared to development requirements, and the density is unevenly distributed between regions. The connection of roads with other modes of transport such as railways, inland waterways, and sea routes has not met expectations. The local road system, especially in remote, isolated, border and island areas, still has many shortcomings.

Some other limitations pointed out are low quality of planning, lack of connectivity between types of transport and logistics infrastructure; the goal of restructuring the transport market share has not been achieved, and the reduction of the proportion of road transport is still limited.

In addition, the new budget capital meets only about 20% of the demand, the mechanism to attract social capital is unstable, access to credit is difficult, while annual maintenance costs only meet about 40% of the demand. The main reason comes from the limited development of strategies, planning and plans, lack of long-term vision, leading to difficulties in consulting, prioritizing investment and effectively using capital resources.

Target 9,000 km of highway by 2045

To achieve the goal of having a modern road network by 2045, connecting and developing reasonably between modes of transport, completing the construction of 9,000 km of expressways and investing in the construction and upgrading of 30,000 km of national highways, the Vietnam Road Administration believes that it is necessary to prioritize upgrading the North-South Eastern Expressway to a minimum scale of 6 lanes, striving to complete before 2035; at the same time, deploy the North-South Western route according to the plan, ensuring the route is open by 2035.

In the Northern region, priority is given to Hanoi's urban belt routes (Ring Roads 4 and 5), radial routes and routes connecting major seaports, with an expected operational length of about 1,400 km by 2035 and about 2,300 km by 2045.

In the Central region, focus on investing in routes on the East-West economic corridor, connecting seaports with international border gates, putting into operation about 700 km by 2035 and about 1,500 km by 2045.

The South will complete the Ho Chi Minh City urban beltway network, routes connecting seaports and international border gates with a total operational length of about 800 km by 2035 and 1,400 km by 2045.

Synchronous investment in the national highway system For national highways, the goal is to complete investment and exploitation of National Highway 1 from Lang Son to Ca Mau, approximately 2,482 km long, meeting grade III standards, with 4 lanes; Ho Chi Minh Highway, 1,762 km long, meeting 2-4 lane standards.

At the same time, upgrade 21 key national highways in the North, 24 routes in the Central region and 17 routes in the South with a minimum scale of 2 to 6 lanes.

According to calculations, the total capital demand for road investment by 2045 is about 2.6 million billion VND, of which the 2026 - 2030 period needs more than 1 million billion VND, the 2031 - 2050 period needs 1.2 million billion VND. Priority projects such as the North - South Eastern Expressway, the North - South Western Expressway, the 3-region expressways, National Highway 1 and Ho Chi Minh Road account for more than 1.7 million billion VND.

Mobilizing diverse resources, prioritizing PPP

To achieve the goal, the Department of Roads proposes to focus on developing mechanisms and policies to mobilize resources and exploit added value from infrastructure after investment through public-private partnership (PPP) methods, build-transfer (BT) contracts, urban development models oriented towards public transport development (TOD), and effectively exploit road toll revenue. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the progress of public investment disbursement, limit dispersion, and prioritize expressway projects, National Highway 1 and Ho Chi Minh Road.

The Department of Roads also emphasized the need to review and improve the legal system on investment, PPP and related fields, towards streamlining procedures, harmonizing interests, creating conditions to attract social resources for road infrastructure development, contributing to improving national competitiveness.

Phan Trang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/nam-2045-hoan-thanh-xay-dung-9000-km-cao-toc-102250830171329342.htm