Ha Noi mobilizes resources for transport infrastructure development

Illustration photo

More synchronous and modern

According to Director of the Ha Noi Department of Transport Vu Van Vien, in the past few years, especially after the capital transport planning blueprint was approved by the Prime Minister in 2016, Ha Noi’s investment in infrastructure development has seen positive changes.

This is clearly demonstrated through the increase in the proportion of land area for transport in the city’s ​​urban construction land area. 

Accordingly, the land used for transport accounted for 8.65% in 2015 and 9.75% by the end of 2019, and is expected to reach about 10.05% by the end of 2020. 

A series of large-scale projects have been completed, many of which used the Build-Transfer (BT) capital and ODA loans instead of being financed by the municipal budget. 

As a result, Ha Noi’s urban appearance has becoming increasingly modern, while the local traffic congestion has significantly improved, with the number of congestion points decreasing from 41 in 2015 to 34 in March 2020.

Diversifying investment resources

However, Vien said that given its a high volume of vehicles, Ha Noi is planning to focus investment on the formation of a framework transport infrastructure network in accordance with the Prime Minister-approved plan, while completing closed ring roads in the inner-city areas and a number of connecting urban railway routes.

To remove mechanism-related obstacles for key transport projects, Director of the Ha Noi Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Manh Quyen said that regarding the projects underway, the department will consult the municipal People’s Committee to strengthen its direction, administration and encouragement of the progress, in addition to drastically accelerating land clearance, removing obstacles in terms of procedures, and speeding up the disbursement of capital plans. 

For the projects to be implemented, investors and units are assigned to actively coordinate with departments and branches to get instructions concerning the preparation of documents. 

In the context of difficulties in determining resources and land fund for BT works, as well as the complicated and prolonged procedures for project appraisal and approval, failing to meet urgent requirements, the department will consult the city to approve the policy of investing in the urban railway route no. 5 (Van Cao-Ngoc Khanh-Lang-Hoa Lac section) by using the municipal budget, while considering the immediate conversion of five projects into the form of public investment with a total funding of about VND29.918 trillion (US$1.28 billion). 

Regarding the ring road no. 4 project (from National Highway 32 to Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway), due to its inter-provincial connection, the city will work with the Ministry of Transport and propose investment from the central budget.​

Hopefully, with these synchronous and specific solutions, Ha Noi will keep its transport infrastructure projects on schedule, thereby creating a driving force for the capital city’s socio-economic development and promoting linkages between localities in the Northern Key Economic Region and the Red River Delta.

By Vien Nhu