Chairman Nguyen Van Duoc: Bau Bang - Cai Mep Railway is very important to Ho Chi Minh City

Important route for investment and development of Ho Chi Minh City

Sharing with businesses at the seminar "Ho Chi Minh City Wood Industry - Global Production and Export Center", held on October 23, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc said that the city is focusing on implementing the socio -economic development goals set by the Party Congress for the 2025-2030 term.

Perspective of Bau Bang - Cai Mep container railway with design speed of 160 km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h for freight trains. (Source: Becamex)

"HCMC will hire experienced foreign consultants to coordinate with domestic units to re-plan the space of HCMC to clearly define 3 development zones," said Mr. Duoc.

The 3 regions that the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said Binh Duong will shape to become the capital of high-tech industry.

Vung Tau will be the capital of the maritime economy with seaports, sea tourism , clean energy, manufacturing and processing industry, petrochemical industry associated with free trade zones.

In conjunction with the marine economy, the new planning of Ho Chi Minh City will form a modern Cai Mep - Can Gio seaport system. This is identified as the logistics center of Ho Chi Minh City and the Southern Region. After the planning, all cargo ports of Ho Chi Minh City will be concentrated here, leaving no cargo ports in the inner city, ports along the Saigon River, Dong Nai River. These places only select a few gathering points at the scale of transiting goods to Cai Mep - Can Gio.

The central core area of Ho Chi Minh City will become a financial, service and high-tech center.

To implement this plan, Ho Chi Minh City focuses on investing in a synchronous and modern transportation system. It is expected that by 2035, the transportation system will be completed with a combination of roads including Ring Roads 2, 3, 4; radial roads connecting to Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, connecting the West... and an urban railway system extending to Binh Duong and Vung Tau.

The Bau Bang - Cai Mep railway route proposed by Becamex has its starting point at Bau Bang station and its ending point at Tien Cang Thi Vai station. (Source: Becamex)

One route that Ho Chi Minh City has identified as very important for future investment and development is the freight railway. The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said that the city is focusing resources on the first container railway connecting the Bau Bang industrial zone to Cai Mep.

This will be the route to transport industrial products from Ho Chi Minh City, mainly Binh Duong and Dong Nai to Cai Mep - Thi Vai port.

"Yesterday, Ho Chi Minh City worked with Dong Nai province to agree on the policy and ask for permission from the Government to invest in this railway system. Currently, Becamex is coordinating with a number of Japanese enterprises and reputable enterprises in the industry to prepare for investment.

I think this is a very important route in the upcoming development investment in the South, which is very important for Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City is especially interested in this railway route ," the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City affirmed.

Build railways to reduce many costs

Explaining the importance of the freight railway, Mr. Duoc said that when there is a separate freight railway, the transportation costs of enterprises will be reduced. Currently, Vietnam's logistics costs are among the highest in the world, greatly affecting the production and business of domestic enterprises.

Having a separate transportation route will solve the problem of logistics costs, and reducing the cost of goods for businesses is gradually becoming clear.

Transportation costs for businesses in Ho Chi Minh City and the South are currently very high due to incomplete infrastructure. (Photo: Ha Linh)

Along this route, there will also be TOD areas, investment in suitable transit and goods gathering locations, so that goods from Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and the whole region can be transported to the port quickly, conveniently and at the most reasonable cost.

Not only solving the problem of logistics costs, having a freight railway will also reduce traffic congestion in Ho Chi Minh City.

In particular, an important cost that will be reduced when putting freight railways into operation is the cost of investing in and repairing roads.

"No matter how much we invest in roads, it still cannot meet the demand. Take Vung Tau and Binh Duong as examples, which previously invested very well in road systems, but still could not meet the demand for transportation when the demand for transportation is increasing.

Ho Chi Minh City is focusing resources on this railway line, the goal must be completed in the next 10 years," Mr. Duoc added.

According to Becamex's proposal, this group invests in two "backbone" railway lines of the southern transportation system: Bau Bang - An Binh - Cai Mep and Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho.

The Bau Bang - An Binh - Cai Mep route is about 127km long, with a design speed of 160km/h for passenger trains and 120km/h for freight trains.

This route has a total investment of nearly 153,000 billion VND, directly connecting industrial zones from the industrial capital of Binh Duong and Dong Nai with the deep-water port cluster of Cai Mep - Thi Vai. When formed, this railway route will create a great competitive advantage in maritime transport.

According to the new planning, all cargo ports in Ho Chi Minh City's inner city will move to Cai Mep-Thi Vai area. (Photo: Luong Y)

The Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho route is about 174km long, with an investment capital of more than 173,600 billion VND in phase 1. This route is designed with a speed of 200km/h for passenger trains and 160km/h for cargo trains, and will be an important bridge, bringing agricultural products and goods from the Mekong Delta to industrial centers and international seaports.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Becamex Group, when completed, these two routes will help save about 2.2 billion USD in logistics costs each year, making Ho Chi Minh City and the Southern region a green, smart and sustainable transportation center.

According to Mr. Nguyen Liem, Chairman of the Binh Duong Province Wood Processing Association, the reality is that despite being known as the industrial capital, Binh Duong does not have a single meter of highway.
To increase connectivity and reduce transportation costs, he proposed that Ho Chi Minh City prioritize planning and upgrading inter-regional routes and connecting ports - industrial parks - production areas, facilitating the supply chain of raw materials and import-export goods.

Ha Linh

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/chu-tich-nguyen-van-duoc-duong-sat-bau-bang-cai-mep-rat-quan-trong-voi-tp-hcm-ar972757.html