The Central Highlands and South Central Coast are known as regions with many advantages for developing agricultural products, tourism, maritime transport and fisheries. However, these advantageous regions have not yet fully exploited their potential and complemented each other. There are many reasons, but the transportation system is still isolated, lacking inter-regional connectivity and is not synchronized, which is the biggest barrier that makes the whole region slow to take off and accelerate.

Realizing this, in recent years, the Party and the State have paid special attention to expressway projects, especially those in the South Central Coast and Central Highlands. Some projects have been put into operation ahead of schedule. For example, at the end of April, before the holiday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao component project. This is a very important project, because from now on, the last "bottleneck" in the expressway from Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang, which is more than 400 km long, has been removed.

Sharing the joy with the people of the South Central region and the whole country, at the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the inauguration of the project was due to the joint efforts, high determination, participation of the entire political system, people, businesses, and close direction of the Politburo and the Secretariat, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

According to the Prime Minister, when this project comes into operation, it will increase the total length of the North-South expressway to 1,187 km; bringing the total length of expressways in operation nationwide to more than 2,000 km, shortening travel time for people.

The custom of promoting the spirit of "overcoming the sun and conquering the rain"

One day before the April 30 – May 1 holiday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Government delegation inspected the site, encouraged officials and workers working on the construction site, and urged a number of component projects of the North-South expressway in the East phase 2021 – 2025, passing through the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and the Khanh Hoa – Buon Ma Thuot expressway. This further demonstrates the determination of the head of the Government to “cover” the expressway in this area.

The first project that the Prime Minister inspected the construction status of was the Van Phong - Nha Trang project on the North - South expressway in the eastern phase of 2021 - 2025. The project is more than 83 km long, passing through 4 districts and towns: Van Ninh, Ninh Hoa, Dien Khanh and Khanh Vinh in Khanh Hoa province; the total investment is 11,808 billion VND, starting in January 2023, completed according to the contract in December 2025.

According to the investor, up to now, the site clearance work has basically met the requirements, more than 83 km has been handed over, reaching 99.7%, only about 0.32 km of the main route remains; 6/6 resettlement areas have been completed, handed over to 203/203 households. According to the investor's report, right from the start of construction, the project's contractors are all strong, professional contractors such as Son Hai Group, who have focused on proactively finding and handling problems related to construction materials. Mr. Nguyen Van Huy, Project Director of Son Hai Group, said that thanks to proactively producing, ordering and transporting materials, materials have been avoided, helping to avoid shortages and price pressure, so construction is proactive, without worrying about delays.

According to the reporter's records, to ensure the project's progress, the contractors mobilized 42/42 construction teams, 1,020 pieces of equipment and 1,877 workers simultaneously on the entire route. The cumulative output to date is 3,451/7,138 billion VND, reaching 50% of the contract value, exceeding the contract plan by 5%. The output of each contractor is basically ahead of schedule.

At the time of inspection, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh praised the Project Management Board and contractors for being proactive and active in implementing the project, gaining more and more experience from previous projects. The Prime Minister requested that the project be basically completed by April 30, 2025 to adjust and shorten the progress; continue to promote the spirit of "overcoming the sun, overcoming the rain", "working overtime", "eating quickly, sleeping urgently", "working 3 shifts, 4 shifts, through holidays and Tet"; improve quality, ensure technical, aesthetic, safety, and environmental sanitation.

"The sooner the project is completed, the sooner the people will benefit"

Inspecting the Khanh Hoa – Buon Ma Thuot expressway project, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Khanh Hoa – Buon Ma Thuot expressway project is very important, connecting the two regions of the Central Highlands and the South Central Coast; the sooner the project is completed, the sooner the people will benefit; the Central Highlands – South Central Coast will have more conditions for development.

From there, the head of the Government requested the two provinces of Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak to quickly clear the land, encourage on-site resettlement and possibly arrange temporary accommodation, ensuring that people have new accommodation that is better than or equal to their old accommodation.

The Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot Expressway Project Phase 1 is 117.5 km long, passing through Khanh Hoa province (about 32.7 km) and Dak Lak province (about 84.8 km) with a scale of 4 lanes, divided into 3 component projects, corresponding to 3 sections. Component project 1 is managed by Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, with a total investment of 5,333 billion VND; project 2 is managed by the Ministry of Transport (10,436 billion VND), project 3 is managed by Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee (6,165 billion VND).

According to the expected progress, the project will basically complete some sections with high traffic volume in 2025, basically complete the entire route in 2026 and complete and put the entire project into operation in 2027. To date, site clearance for project 1 has reached 74%, project 2 has reached 72%, and project 3 alone has reached 98%.

After hearing the report on the difficulties related to the financial plan of the BOT QL26 project if an interchange is built between the Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot Expressway and QL26, the Prime Minister agreed on the policy of building an interchange, with the spirit of needing to build the interchange immediately to facilitate construction of the project; emphasizing the need to put the overall problem first, whichever option is better and more beneficial for the people and the country, then do it, and have a plan to harmoniously handle issues related to investor interests.

The Prime Minister also requested relevant agencies to urgently handle difficulties, complete procedures related to forests, handle confiscated assets and related procedures, and promptly hand over the site for construction. In response to the Prime Minister's request, Son Hai Group, representing the contractors, pledged to make efforts to shorten the project's progress by 6 months.

According to the report of the Ministry of Transport, Project Management Board 7, the project contractors are all strong and professional contractors, proactively seeking and handling problems related to construction material sources, and proactively mobilizing equipment and human resources to speed up the project's progress. Praising the units, the Prime Minister requested that the project be basically completed by April 30, 2025 to adjust and shorten the progress.

Regarding the site clearance problems, the Prime Minister requested the locality and Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) to urgently handle and resolve them. EVN needs to transfer equipment from other projects to relocate the power plant serving this project, not to “wait” for equipment. On the Khanh Hoa side, the provincial leaders pledged to the Prime Minister their determination to complete the site clearance in May.

Huge plan for Central Highlands transportation

More good news for the Central Highlands, when in May, the Ministry of Transport coordinated with central and local agencies to discuss many solutions to develop transport projects for this region. In particular, priority was given to developing roads and air routes, focusing on removing traffic bottlenecks in the region, ensuring the spread and inter-regional connection between the Central Highlands and the Central Coast and the Southeast, thereby exploiting and promoting the potential and advantages of the region.

According to the plan, the Ministry of Transport will coordinate and support localities in the process of researching and investing in expressways such as Quy Nhon - Pleiku, Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot, Tan Phu - Bao Loc, Bao Loc - Lien Khuong, Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh, some expressway sections of the North - South expressway in the west. Expand Lien Khuong, Pleiku and Buon Ma Thuot airports; restore and renovate the Thap Cham - Da Lat railway; the railway connecting the Central Highlands (Da Nang - Kon Tum - Gia Lai - Dak Lak - Dak Nong - Binh Phuoc).

It is expected that by 2030, the Ministry of Transport will complete the construction and put into operation the Quy Nhon - Pleiku expressway with a length of 180 km with a total preliminary investment of about 54,000 billion VND. By 2027, the Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot expressway with a length of 118 km with a total preliminary investment of nearly 22,000 billion VND will be put into operation. At the same time, the Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh expressway with a length of 129 km with a total preliminary investment of more than 25,500 billion VND will be put into operation.

In addition, there is a plan to put into operation the Tan Phu - Bao Loc expressway with a length of 67 km and a total investment of more than 18,120 billion VND by 2028. By 2025, the Ministry of Transport will also study and add the Quang Ngai - Kon Tum expressway to the planning. Research and preparation for investment in the western North - South expressway, the investment process after 2030 includes: Ngoc Hoi - Pleiku expressway with a length of 90 km, a scale of 6 lanes with a total preliminary investment of about 18,900 billion VND; Pleiku - Buon Ma Thuot expressway with a length of 160 km, a scale of 6 lanes, a total preliminary investment of about 33,600 billion VND; Buon Ma Thuot - Gia Nghia with a length of 105 km, a scale of 6 lanes, a total investment of 22,050 billion VND.

For national highways, it is expected to complete upgrading the remaining 63 km of national highway (Kon Tum - Quang Ngai) with a total investment of VND 2,500 billion by 2030. For railways, it is expected to complete investment preparation work to restore and renovate the Thap Cham - Da Lat railway line and the railway connecting the Central Highlands (Da Nang - Kon Tum - Gia Lai - Dak Lak - Dak Nong - Binh Phuoc) by 2030. For aviation, the Ministry of Transport plans to complete upgrading 3 airports by 2029 including: Lien Khuong Airport, Pleiku Airport, Buon Ma Thuot Airport and complete the planning of Mang Den Airport by 2025.