The Ministry of Construction has just reported to the Government the results of its review and the investment demand for upgrading and completing expressways that were built under phased scale. The total capital required to complete these expressways is estimated at about VND 500 trillion.
According to the Ministry of Construction, in the context of limited resources during the 2007–2023 period, many expressways were invested in under a phased approach, with 2 lanes or limited 4 lanes, in order to meet immediate transportation demand and match the available funding capacity.
To date, the country has 2,801 km of expressways built under phased scale. Of this total, 2,107 km have been put into operation or technically opened to traffic, including 548 km of 2-lane expressways and 1,559 km of limited 4-lane expressways.
The Ministry of Construction assessed that as transport demand is expected to continue increasing strongly and the State’s investment resources have improved compared to the past, expanding and completing phased expressways is necessary to ensure technical standards and improve operational capacity.
According to the review results of the Ministry of Construction, completing the 2-lane expressways requires a total investment of about VND 79.6 trillion. Of this amount, nearly VND 49 trillion has already been identified, while about VND 30.6 trillion needs to be supplemented from the central budget during the 2026–2030 period.
The routes expected to be fully upgraded include: Cam Lộ - La Sơn, La Sơn - Hòa Liên, Yên Bái - Lào Cai, Tuyên Quang - Hà Giang (section through Hà Giang), Cốc Nam - Hữu Nghị, Hòa Lạc - Hòa Bình, Thái Nguyên - Chợ Mới, Đồng Đăng - Trà Lĩnh, Hòa Bình - Mộc Châu, Ninh Bình – Hải Phòng.
For limited 4-lane expressways, the total capital needed to expand them to the planned 4–8 lane scale is about VND 417.46 trillion, divided into three groups of projects.
The first group includes sections currently under expansion with a total length of about 66 km. Specifically, the Cao Bồ - Mai Sơn expressway is funded by the state budget and expected to be completed in 2026, with capital basically arranged; the Trung Lương - Mỹ Thuận expressway is invested under the PPP model, expected to be completed in 2028, with capital mobilized by the investor.
The second group consists of routes under the North–South Expressway East Corridor project with a total length of 1,222 km. In particular, the Lạng Sơn – Hà Nội section still has two segments that do not fully meet expressway standards; the Hà Nội - Ho Chi Minh City section is being reported by the Ministry of Construction to the Government with several expansion options (if expanding the radial sections leading to Hà Nội and Ho Chi Minh City with a total length of about 534 km, the estimated investment would be about VND 63.5 trillion; if expanding the entire 1,144 km corridor, the estimated investment would be about VND 154.335 trillion); the Ho Chi Minh City - Cà Mau section includes the Trung Lương - Mỹ Thuận segment currently being expanded under the PPP model, while the Cần Thơ - Cà Mau segment is being studied for separation into independent projects.
The third group includes other expressways such as: Tuyên Quang - Phú Thọ, Cao Lãnh - Lộ Tẻ - Rạch Sỏi, Khánh Hòa - Buôn Ma Thuột, Mỹ An - Cao Lãnh - An Hữu, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3, Châu Đốc - Cần Thơ - Sóc Trăng. With a preliminary expansion investment of about VND 143.6 trillion, implementation will be considered based on traffic volume assessments and toll revenue efficiency before being submitted to competent authorities for decision.
VPDAĐS - TECCO1