Upgrade National Highway 49F soon to promote goods from the land of a million elephants to Vietnam

Upgrade National Highway 49F soon to promote goods from the land of a million elephants to Vietnam

National Highway 49F (old Highway 71 connecting A Luoi and Phong Dien) from Phong Dien port to Hong Van border gate, A Luoi district (old) is about 100km long, part of the roadbed was formed during the war. Currently, in addition to some sections that have been upgraded in recent years, there is about 70km from National Highway 1A to Ho Chi Minh road, the section through mountainous areas is currently narrow, with potential risk of landslides, not meeting the needs of transporting and trading goods.

Due to the steep terrain, one side is deep abyss, the other side is high mountains, the cross section has many streams, so in the rainy season there is often a strong current, causing a high risk of landslides on the traffic route. This is also a forestry route with many economic forest areas of the people. During the exploitation season, many heavy-duty vehicles operate continuously, making National Highway 49F even more degraded.

If upgraded, National Highway 49F will be the route to transport minerals from Laos to the Central provinces and cities.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, Chairman of the People's Committee of A Luoi 1 Commune, said that the locality was merged from Hong Thuy, Hong Van, Trung Son, and Hong Kim communes, and the traffic infrastructure system has been invested quite stably. However, the National Highway 49F, about 25km through the commune, is still a dirt road, causing difficulties for travel and local economic development.

If expanded and upgraded, National Highway 49F will create favorable conditions not only for shortening the route for transporting goods and agricultural products, stimulating local tourism development, but also for transporting coal from Laos and reducing the load on the existing National Highway 49A.

Therefore, recently, the commune government has also proposed that the city recommend the Central Government to pay attention to investing in upgrading National Highway 49F connecting with Phong Dien district (old) as well as coordinating the construction of border belt roads, serving local economic development and ensuring security and national defense.

Some transport companies specializing in transporting bauxite, coal and agricultural products from Laos to provinces and cities in Central Vietnam said that if National Highway 49F is upgraded and repaired, the circulation of goods from Laos will be very convenient, the cost is estimated to be reduced by about 1/3 compared to the circulation on the current routes. It is worth mentioning that if National Highway 49F is upgraded and invested, the pressure on traffic burden on National Highway 49 will be reduced and traffic accidents will certainly be significantly reduced...

At the end of July 2025, at a working session with the Government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, the leaders of Hue City proposed that the Government consider supporting major projects, including National Highway 49F connecting Phong Dien Port to Hong Van Border Gate. According to the City People's Committee, National Highway 49F from Phong Dien Port to Hong Van Border Gate is about 100km long.

Currently, the demand for transporting minerals such as coal, bauxite, etc. from Laos through Hue seaport is very large. In order to support Laos in increasing the capacity of goods circulation, promoting cooperation between Vietnam and Laos; at the same time, improving the efficiency of existing industrial parks and border economic zones in Hue city, developing trade, service and tourism activities between the two countries in conjunction with strengthening national defense and security, therefore, investing in upgrading National Highway 49F is necessary.

In addition, this is also the shortest route connecting Hong Van border gate to Phong Dien port. Of which, the first section of the route, 17km long from National Highway 1A to Phong Dien port, has been invested by the city and has just been put into operation. The last section of the route from Ho Chi Minh road to Hong Van border gate, about 13km long, has been upgraded and expanded by the Ministry of Construction and is expected to be completed in 2026; the remaining section, 70km long from National Highway 1A to Ho Chi Minh road, with a total project investment of about 5,500 billion VND, has not been invested due to unbalanced resources.

Therefore, the leaders of Hue City requested the Government, ministries and branches to pay attention to allocating capital from the central budget to soon implement this project. National Highway 49F plays an important role not only in local economic development but also in the regional connectivity strategy and international economic cooperation, playing an important role in ensuring national defense and security, sustainable development of border areas, promoting economic and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Laos through international border gates.

The Government Office also recently announced the conclusion of Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh at a working session with the Standing Committee of the Hue City Party Committee at the end of July 2025.

Accordingly, regarding the city's proposal to support capital from the central budget to implement National Highway 49F connecting Phong Dien port to Hong Van - Co Tai border gate (section from National Highway 1A to Ho Chi Minh road) in the period of 2026 - 2030, the conclusion announcement of Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh stated that the investment in this route aims to create a driving force to attract investment and promote socio-economic development, spread inter-regionally, help Laos access seaports, open up international integration, and develop an independent economy.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh requested the City People's Committee to review and prioritize the allocation of capital for the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 for implementation. In case of difficulties, the Government assigned the Ministry of Finance to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and relevant agencies to review and propose appropriate solutions, and report to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Giao-thong/som-nang-cap-quoc-lo-49f-de-thuc-day-hang-hoa-tu-dat-nuoc-trieu-voi-ve-viet-nam-i781917/