PM chairs meeting on highway construction

Speaking at the meeting, PM Chinh stated that the construction of expressways in the coming period must not only be harmonised among regions but also focus on dynamic ones, with capital not only from the State budget and also mobilising social resources, including both domestic and foreign resources.

It is important to renew management thinking, promote decentralisation, clearly assign responsibilities to ministries, branches and localities, personalise individual responsibilities and mobilise the participation of ministries, branches, localities, enterprises, people and banks into the highway construction, the PM stressed.

He requested the Ministry of Transport continue to complete a draft report on the implementation of expressway construction in the 2021 - 2025 period with an orientation to 2030, in which clearly defining the results achieved over the past 20 years, especially in the five years from 2016 to 2020, shortcomings and objective causes, as well as difficulties and obstacles while drawing lessons learned in leadership, direction, implementation, resource mobilisation and policy mechanisms.

Regarding the direction for the period 2021-2025 and a vision to 2030, PM Chinh requested a specific analysis of the situation, clarifying the need for expressway development and current conditions, advantages and difficulties, from which determining goals on the number of highway kilometres to be achieved by 2025 and 2030, with a focus on the north-south expressway in the east, the South region, the Central Highlands and ring routes around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while ensuring that the projects are on schedule, are high quality, thrifty and without corruption.

Along with that, it is necessary to clarify solutions on construction investment divergence, resource mobilisation, land clearance and assigning and delegating responsibilities. Problems with mechanisms and policies should be reviewed and submitted to the competent authorities, even to the National Assembly, to settle, while communications to mobilise the whole political system in the work, along with the support from the people and society are key.

The PM also noted that the renewal of thinking and ways of doing needs both time and process, and central agencies need to work together, share with localities, and work with them to manage and use available capital most effectively.