Vietnam will start building a rail line from Haiphong – its biggest port in the north – to the Chinese border by the end of this year, the country’s prime minister has said.
PM Pham Minh Chinh said in a statement on Sunday the government will submit the project to the National Assembly for formal approval in February, according to Tuoi Tre, the state news outlet.
The rail line will be 417 kilometres (259 miles) long and run from Haiphong city through Hanoi, the capital, to Lao Cai Province, which borders Yunnan Province in southern China.
ALSO SEE: Nvidia Looking Into How Its Chips Ended Up In China
It is expected to be the first of two high-speed links with China, which is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner.
Officials from the two countries have been discussing rail links for some time, but the success of the high-speed line built through northern Laos, and similar lines in China, are believed to have convinced the senior officials they should do the same to bolster trade and tourism.
Rail services have clearly become a priority for the Vietnamese, with President To Lam discussing high-speed links with Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, on a state visit to Beijing in August.
China said in December last year it was ready to offer grants to Vietnam to boost the railway between Kunming and the Vietnamese port city of Haiphong, and other transport links from southern China to Hanoi, Vietnamese state paper Tuoi Tre reported.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has been preparing the pre-feasibility report for the project, which looks likely to be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, with Vietnam reportedly set to invest about $11 billion, according to a Hanoi Times report in October.
Metro service starts in Ho Chi Minh
There has been a lot of news – and enthusiasm – about rail lines in Vietnam recently, notably the opening of metro line in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern business hub, on Sunday.
Residents were reportedly delighted with the metro service, which is hardly a surprise, given the city’s notoriously bad traffic.
It comes after 17 years of planning and 12 years of construction. Japan invested $1.7 billion in the Ho Chi Minh metro link, which has 14 stops – three underground and 11 above ground.
Hanoi already has a metro service and construction of second metro line is due to begin next year.
Aside from the rail lines to China, Hanoi also plans to upgrade its north-south line to Ho Chi Minh.
That will be a much bigger and more expensive project – 1,541-kilometres long and costing $67 billion, the government said last month.
The high-speed link from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh will be the country’s largest ever infrastructure project.
This has become possible because trade with China has boomed, and looks set to top $200 billion this year, thanks partly to US and Chinese companies shifting production to northern Vietnam to try to avoid US tariffs.
- Jim Pollard
ALSO SEE:
Vietnam Seen Facing Tariffs as Trade Surplus With US Soars
Vietnamese Tycoon ‘Must Repay Billions to Avoid Execution’
Vietnam to Build High-Speed North-South Rail Link – BT
Chipmakers Flee China, Shift to Vietnam Amid US-China Heat
Vietnam Leader To Lam in China For Rail, South China Sea Talks
Vietnam Enjoys Big Jump in Exports, Industrial Production
Vietnam’s Massive Saigon Bank Bailout Rises to $24.5 Billion
US Chip Firms Looking to Invest $8bn in Vietnam, Official Says
Vietnam Growth Slips on Exports Drop, Anti-Corruption Push
Xi’s Vietnam Visit Set to See Rail, Tech Cooperation Deals
