Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway is a national key project, belongs to North – South expressway axis which Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) is an investor. The Prime Minister held construction commencement ceremony of this expressway on 19/07/2014. The project has a length of 57,8km, through Long An province (2.7 km); Ho Chi Minh City (26,4km) and Dong Nai province (28,7km), designing in standard class A expressway with 4 lanes, two lanes for emergency stop, the design speed of 100km/h.
Total investment (Phase I) of the project is 31,320 billion VND (equivalent to USD 1,607 million); including loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) is USD 636 million, loan of the Government of Japan through The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is USD 635 million and domestic capital budget country.
Once Ben Luc – Long Thanh Expressway completes, it will enable travelling between West region and the South East without having to transit through Ho Chi Minh City, shortening travel time, shortening the distance from Long An Province to the Nhon Trach district and Long Thanh district of Dong Nai province and vice versa. In particular, this expressway has intersection with Logistic zone of Phuoc An Port and it connects directly to road connecting to Phuoc An Port (road will be invested under BOT form). Therefore, in the near future cargo from Mekong Delta can export – import at Phuoc An port without through the port of Ho Chi Minh City which is overloaded and traffic jams are ongoing.
In order to promote progress for operating synchronous the entire road in the second quarter of 2019 as well as meet the capital for this project, the Prime Minister has approved the second loan of Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the project is USD 286 million from ordinary capital resources (OCR). This is a loan for the construction of 25.2 km, 4 lanes (eastern part) of Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway, including packages that construct section through Phuoc An port project (package A5, A6, A7).
For getting highly effect from the first loan, the Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Transport to direct the investor accelerate disbursement schedule to meet project implementation.