Haiphong’s infrastructural renaissance keys interest

With a modern transport infrastructure system taking shape, the northern city of Haiphong expects to become a gateway connecting the north of Vietnam to the world and attract an influx of investment that would help realise its vision of becoming a greener port city.

On May 12, 2016, Cat Bi International Airport officially started operation after a major upgrade that costs a total of VND5.1 trillion ($224.67 million) of which VND3.6 trillion ($158.6 million) was for upgrading the runway and VND1.5 trillion ($66.1 million) was for the terminal.

The upgrade increased the airport’s capacity significantly. The airport can now handle 800 travellers during rush hours and a total of four million travellers and 20,000 tonnes of cargo a year. In the first quarter of 2017, some 531,200 people travelled through the airport, up 46.8 per cent on-year. In addition to the domestic flights, there were 308 international flights along the Haiphong-Seoul, Haiphong-Bangkok, and Haiphong-Guangzhou routes. Flights to the rest of ASEAN, China, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan will commence in the near future.

The airport’s coming into operation has increased the attractiveness of Haiphong remarkably, because the city now has a comprehensive infrastructure of waterways, ocean routes, roads, railways, and air routes that can facilitate its socio-economic growth. The Hanoi-Haiphong-Quang Ninh triangle and the northern coastal region also stand to benefit.

Land access improved with the opening of the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway in December 2015. With a total investment sum of VND45.5 trillion ($2 billion), the 105 kilometre, six-lane expressway has been designed to accommodate traffic at a speed of 120km per hour, and has shortened travel time between Hanoi and Haiphong to a little over an hour.

Sea access also stands to improve, with the Lach Huyen International Gateway Port scheduled to be completed later this year. Financed by VND25 trillion ($1.1 billion) of Japanese official development assistance and state budget, the two 750 metre-long terminals will be able to accommodate ships of up to 100,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT). The total amount of goods passing through the first two berths will be 1.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), equal to 12-14 million tonnes of goods per year. Through this port, goods can go between the north of Vietnam and Europe and America without having to transit at regional ports such as Singapore or Hong Kong.

To link the port with Hanoi-Haiphong Expressway, National Road 5, the Hanoi-Haiphong railway, and Cat Bi International Airport, the construction of Tan Vu-Lach Huyen Highway started in February 2014. The total investment was VND11.85 trillion ($522 million). The 5.44km, six-lane bridge section, Tan Vu Bridge, is scheduled to officially start operations on May 13, 2017. This is the longest sea-crossing bridge in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, the Halong-Haiphong expressway and Bach Dang bridge are going to reduce the travel time between Halong and Haiphong to a little over 20 minutes. In 2018, this expressway will start operation too.

Recently, the government allowed six localities to turn the 500km coastal road stretching between Thanh Hoa and Mong Cai (northeastern Quang Ninh province) through six provinces and cities into an expressway. At the end of March, the ministers of Planning and Investment, Construction, and Transport and the authorities of the six localities met to discuss the construction of this expressway, which holds important meaning in terms of economic growth and national security.

Although Haiphong is already a top location for investment in Vietnam, this new infrastructural development will create even more interest in the region.

By Thanh Son / VIR