$5.5 billion needed for Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Road 4

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee recently submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) a pre-feasibility study report on the proposed investment project to construct the Ring Road 4 connecting the southern City with its neighboring provinces.  

According to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, at the end of August, the city had established a task force to prepare and advise on the investment proposal for the project. The municipal People's Committee also requested the People's Committees of Long An, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces to collaborate with the city to complete the pre-feasibility study report. 

The overall consultant has studied and developed an outline for the comprehensive project report, agreeing on technical details, financial plans, project component division, special policies, and other dossier content. The pre-feasibility study has been reviewed and finalized by component project consultants.

Ho Chi Minh City has coordinated with Long An, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces to review and essentially complete the final pre-feasibility study for both the overall project and its component projects.

For the first phase of the project, land clearance will be carried out in one go according to the approved plan. The road will have four expressway lanes, with continuous emergency lanes along the entire route. Around 21 interchanges will be built, along with parallel roads and service roads on both sides, depending on the traffic needs of each section and locality.

The total length of the Ring Road 4 is more than 206 km, passing through several provinces: about 18 km in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, 45 km in Dong Nai, 48 km in Binh Duong, nearly 17 km in Ho Chi Minh City, and 78 km in Long An (with 74.5 km running through Long An and 3.8 km through Ho Chi Minh City).

In Binh Duong province, a projected section of the road spanning 12 km through the new Binh Duong City has been approved for investment (project under development), but it currently does not meet the standards of an urban expressway (designed for 80 km/h speed). Hence, it requires input from the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to ensure consistent technical standards across the entire route.

The total estimated investment for the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 is approximately VND136.59 trillion ($5.53 billion).

The project is divided into two groups of component projects. Component Group 1 involves land compensation and the construction of service roads and includes six component projects (Ho Chi Minh City will have two component projects). Component Group 2 focuses on building the expressway, with five component projects across five localities.

Previously, the Prime Minister had assigned the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee as the lead agency to compile and manage the implementation of the Ring Road 4 projects. In a meeting at the end of August, the MPI urged Ho Chi Minh City to finalize the pre-feasibility study report for the entire route, submit it to the Government for evaluation, before presenting  the investment proposal to the National Assembly at its October 2024 session for consideration and approval.