With highways, agricultural products quickly reach seaports
In the context of implementing the policy of merging Gia Lai and Binh Dinh provinces, the Government of Gia Lai province is urgently completing the necessary plans for the Quy Nhon - Pleiku Expressway Construction Project. When the highway is completed, Gia Lai will become the second largest province in the country, with about 3.5 million people and a total area of more than 21,550 km2.
Mr. Nguyen Hung, a bus driver, shared: Currently, it takes more than 3 hours to travel from Pleiku to Quy Nhon City via National Highway 19. If there is a highway, the travel time will be shortened to less than 2 hours, helping to save fuel costs, reduce wear and tear and driver's efforts."
Gia Lai is a key locality in agricultural development of the country, but logistics services are still limited. Mr. Nguyen Toan Man, the owner of an agricultural product purchasing enterprise in Gia Lai, said: "Logistics costs account for a large proportion of the agricultural product cost. If the expressway is built soon, transportation costs and warehouses will be significantly reduced, helping businesses increase profits and farmers in remote areas will also benefit".
Expressway connecting forests and seas
The Quy Nhon - Pleiku expressway project is about 123 km long, with a total preliminary investment of more than VND 38,917 billion. The project is expected to start construction in 2025 and be completed in 2029. The expressway will start from National Highway 19B (Km39+200) in Nhon My commune, An Nhon town (Binh Dinh) and end at the intersection with Ho Chi Minh Road (QL14) in Pleiku city (Gia Lai).
The expressway is designed with 4 lanes, with an operating speed of 100 km/h. As for the An Khe Pass and Mang Yang Pass sections (each section is about 20 km long) due to the rugged mountainous terrain, the design speed will be reduced to 80 km/h.
Currently, the People's Committees of Gia Lai and Binh Dinh provinces are directing the Department of Construction to coordinate with the Ministry of Construction to complete the dossier, agree on the route and propose a project implementation plan on schedule.
In order to ensure capital for the project, the People's Council of Gia Lai province, term XII (term 2021 - 2026), has recently issued Resolution No. 492/QD-HDND, agreeing to allocate 500 billion VND from the provincial budget to participate in investment.
This capital will be taken from increased budget revenue in 2024, regular expenditure savings in 2024 and balanced capital in the 2026 - 2030 medium-term public investment plan.
People and businesses in Gia Lai and Binh Dinh expect the project to start soon, aiming to connect with deep-water ports, expanding opportunities to bring goods and agricultural products to the international market.
