The entire Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway was opened to traffic on 2 September to mark the upcoming 73^rd National Day. This large-scale project plays an important role in accelerating the socio-economic development of Da Nang and the provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai which the route runs through, and that of the central region as a whole, in the coming time.

The inauguration ceremony of the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway in progress

In attendance at the launch ceremony of the expressway on Sunday were Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court of Viet Nam Nguyen Hoa Binh, Transport Minister Nguyen Van The, Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho, and the leaders of the Quang Nam and Quang Ngai Province.

The deployment of the over 34,500 billion VND expressway project, the first of its kind in the central region, is part of the country’s expressway network development plans by 2020, with a vision towards 2030.

Stretching nearly 140km and linking with the National Highway No 1, the expressway helps to accelerate the development of the central region’s economic hub, as well as strengthening the links between the Dung Quat Industrial Zone in Quang Ngai Province, the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Quang Nam Province, and Da Nang.

The freshly-opened route is also expected to boost international transport connectivity amongst the Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia economic triangle through the East-West Economic Corridor, to number seaports in Central Viet Nam.

A section of the newly-opened expressway

Addressing the launch ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, highly applauded the Ministry of Transport, the project’s developer Viet Nam Expressway Corporation (VEC), government relevant agencies, and the authorities of the localities the expressway runs through, for their active involvement in implementing this highly important project.

In particular, he thanked thousands of households affected by the project for their great support for the national government's policies and guidelines regarding site clearance.

The national government official also highly praised the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank (WB) for funding the project.

He asked the Ministry of Transport to direct the project’s investor, VEC, to urgently complete such support facilities along the route as frontage roads, traffic barriers, and traffic safety signboards.

VEC must abide by the State regulations in management, exploitation and maintenance of the expressway, ensuring traffic safety, environmental hygiene as well as safe, smooth and effective operation of the whole route.

The governments of the 3 localities which the expressway runs through should adjust their socio-economic development plans on the basis of economic restructuring in association with the newly-develop traffic infrastructure in a bid to fully tap the potential of the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway.