Infrastructure is not yet synchronous
According to the planning of border gates on the Vietnam - China mainland border for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 by the Prime Minister, Cao Bang province will have three international border gates: Ly Van (Vietnam) - Thac Long (China), Ta Lung (Vietnam) - Thuy Khau (China) and Tra Linh (Vietnam) - Long Bang (China).
Currently, on the entire border between Cao Bang province (Vietnam) and Guangxi province (China), there is only one pair of international border gates, Tra Linh - Long Bang.
Ly Van and Ta Lung border gates have not yet been upgraded to international border gates, mainly due to technical infrastructure not meeting requirements.
The actual record on February 24 shows that at Ly Van border gate (Ha Lang district), there is only the National Port with some basic technical infrastructure such as the yard, roads, drainage system, lighting and landscape of the border gate area. The complex control station, built in 2013, currently does not meet the requirements for the area to arrange inspection and control lines and equipment for monitoring activities.
Investing in building new infrastructure
The Ban Khoong opening area has been invested in a working house for functional forces and a road from Ban Khoong to mark 854. However, more than 30m of the road adjacent to the border has not been connected due to procedures related to the border project.
At Ta Lung border gate, the traffic system has been invested in for a long time, but many locations have now degraded, the drainage system is not yet synchronous, and the lighting is damaged. The technical infrastructure in the resettlement areas serving site clearance has also degraded in some items.
The works serving state management such as the Joint Control Station, Border Gate Management Office, Customs Branch, Joint Control House at the beginning of Bridge II - Ta Lung Border Gate... basically still ensure operating conditions. However, it is noteworthy that the words "ta Lung International Border Gate" have been attached to the Vietnamese side of the project for a long time, but in reality, this is only a unilateral announcement of Vietnam, not recognized by China because the infrastructure does not meet standards.
Regarding the above infrastructure issue, recently, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Cao Bang province has directed the Provincial Economic Zone Management Board to speed up the progress of planning the Ly Van border gate area. He requested a quick survey and investment plan for important items such as traffic connection, power supply, water supply for the Ban Khoong customs clearance area, construction of a joint control station and upgrading infrastructure in the border gate area.
The People's Committee of Cao Bang province also agreed with the proposal to invest in completing infrastructure connecting two resettlement areas in Ta Lung town, and at the same time reclaiming land on both sides of the II bridge - Ta Lung border gate to build more technical infrastructure to serve import-export activities.
Previously, on the morning of February 2, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, during his inspection of the progress of phase 1 of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway project, agreed on the investment policy for two connecting routes from the Dong Dang - Tra Linh route to Ta Lung border gate and Cao Bang city.
These two routes are expected to create a synchronous interconnected traffic network, helping to solve bottlenecks and bottlenecks in transport infrastructure, exploiting new development space created by the project, focusing on developing border gate economy, border gate economy, and smart border gate.
