$12.4 billion sought to develop suburban HCMC

Of the investment, almost 99 percent are for 18 traffic and technical infrastructure development projects, including HCMC- Moc Bai Expressway, Ring Roads No.3 and No.4, and metro line No.3, it was announced at a Tuesday conference chaired by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is running for a seat in the 15th National Assembly (NA) delegation of Ho Chi Minh City for 2021-2026.

Set to begin in 2023 and complete in 2025, the Moc Bai expressway will run about 50 kilometers, linking HCMC with the neighboring province of Tay Ninh that borders Cambodia.

The project will help complete the traffic network of the Southern Key Economic Zone, reduce overload on National Highway 22, and increase the capacity of the road connecting the city with Cambodia. The zone comprises six southeastern localities: HCMC, the industrial hubs of Dong Nai and Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh and Binh Phuoc provinces plus the Mekong Delta provinces of Long An and Tien Giang.

Ring Road No.3 will stretch over 90 kilometers (56 miles) to allow vehicles to travel to and from Binh Duong, Long An and Dong Nai, all major industrial hubs, without having to enter inner HCMC while Ring Road No.4 will run 36 kilometers to link Ben Luc Town of Long An Province with Hiep Phuoc Port complex in HCMC’s Nha Be District.

Metro line No.3 will run through eight districts of 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, Binh Tan and Binh Chanh.

The remaining projects that have been put forward for investment are 16 agriculture initiatives, 12 projects to renovate the face of the city, two commercial-service projects, four education-culture-sports endeavors and three industrial projects.

Nguyen Thanh Nha, director of the city’s Department of Planning and Architecture, said the potential of Cu Chi and Hoc Mon have not been fully exploited as the two districts still have land for urban development to ease the pressure on the inner-city area.

Nha said the two districts are among the most elevated in the city and boast their own natural eco-system.

Also, they lie next to Moc Bai International Border Gate and Dau Tieng Lake, Vietnam’s largest irrigation reservoir in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces.

The city can also develop waterway transport services to allow commuters to travel back and forth from the two districts and inner city in around half an hour.

Hoc Mon and Cu Chi, one-and-a-half-hour car drive from downtown HCMC, covers 544 square kilometers in total to HCMC’s north-northwest, accounting for more than 26 percent of the city’s natural area.

They are gateways to link HCMC with Long An, Tay Ninh and Binh Duong.

According to the general planning of HCMC until 2040, with a vision to 2060, the north- northwest area will be one of the main development directions of the city that is shaped to become smart cities and eco-tourism sites.