DECISION

APPROVING THE PLANNING ON DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT IN HO CHI MINH CITY UP TO 2020 AND AN AFTER-2020 VISION

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;
At the proposals of the Transport Ministry (in Report No. 5131/TTr-BGTVT of August 22, 2005), of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City (in Documents No. 7030/UBND-DT of November 1, 2005 and No. 72/UBND-DT of January 5, 2007), of the Planning and Investment Ministry (in Document No. 9688/BKH-KCN&DT of December 29, 2006), and of the Finance Ministry (in Document No. 16492/BTC-DT of December 26, 2006), and the evaluation report of the Construction Ministry (in Report No. 44/TTr-BXD of August 11, 2006),

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the planning on development of communications and transport in Ho Chi Minh City up to 2020 and an after-2020 vision with the following principal contents:

1. Scope of the planning:

This planning covers Ho Chi Minh City and satellite towns in Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, Tay Ninh and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces with an influence radius of between 30 and 50 km.

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This planning will serve as a basis for building and incremental improvement and modernization of the road, railway, waterway and airway networks up to 2020 with an after-2020 vision, in order to ensure the stable, balanced, sustainable and long-term development of Ho Chi Minh City, contributing to turning it into a national-level urban center, the core of the southern key economic region and a major commercial and service center in the Southeast Asian region.

3. Planning viewpoints and contents:

a/ Planning viewpoints:

- The urban traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is based on its land use planning and urban landscape architecture planning up to 2020 which have been approved by the Prime Minister.

- The urban traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is planned under the viewpoints on an "open city," linking new urban centers, satellite towns, industrial parks and inter-regional key traffic works (seaports and airports) and closely linked with the provinces in the southern key economic region and the urban area of Ho Chi Minh City, so that they can assist one another in their comprehensive development and the best tapping of general socio-economic advantages of the whole region.

- The development planning must ensure the planning continuity and stability, minimizing ground clearance in stable urban centers.

- More land should be reserved for building traffic infrastructures for both dynamic and static traffic in new urban centers, with a view to achieving the target that the urban land area for traffic (in the inner city) reaches 16-20% by 2020 and 22-24% by 2025.

b/ Principal contents of the planning:

* Planning on the road network

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+ To renovate and upgrade the existing radial national highways (national highways No. 1, 1K, 13 and 22). Particularly, national highway 50’s section from belt road 2 to the inner city will be renovated and upgraded into an urban road together with a bypass road.

+ To build expressways with a large vehicle clearance capacity: Ho Chi Minh City - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay - Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai, Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong - Can Tho, and an inter-regional expressway from the southern area of Ho Chi Minh City to Nhon Trach.

+ To renovate the existing provincial roads to support radial national highways. To build a new section of the West-North trunk road from Hau Nghia - Vinh Loc industrial park; to build provincial road 25C linking Nhon Trach town with Long Thanh international airport; to extend the road to Phuoc An port and build a bridge spanning Thi Vai river to link the Cai Mep - Thi Vai inter-port road with the southern inter-regional expressway.

- Belt roads

+ To build belt road 1 into a grade-I urban road.

+ To build in a full circle belt road 2 running through the following points: Go Dua T-junction - Binh Phuoc crossroads - An Suong crossroads - Binh Thai crossroads - Kha Van Can road - Go Dua T-junction. This road will be a grade-I urban road.

+ To build belt road 3 running through the following points: The point of connection to the southern inter-regional expressway in Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai province - Tan Van road T-junction - the belt road of Bien Hoa city (under the master plan of Bien Hoa city) - Bung township of Thuan An district, Binh Duong province - the north of Hoc Mon township - Thanh Nien road (along An Ha canal, near Nhi Xuan and Le Minh Xuan agricultural farms) - Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway and finally connected to the starting point of the southern inter-regional expressway in Binh Chanh district.

+ To build belt road 4 linking satellite towns of Ho Chi Minh City in the following directions: East of Trang Bom township, Trang Bom district, Dong Nai province - north of Thu Dau Mot town - Cu Chi township - Duc Hoa township connected to Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway in Ben Luc township - national highway 50 - Hiep Phuoc port cluster.

- Thoroughfares in the inner city

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+ To build a new section of the North-South expressway from Nguyen Van Linh road to Hiep Phuoc industrial park.

+ To renovate and raise the vehicle clearance capacity of the thoroughfares in the inner city in line with the approved urban construction general planning in the direction of limiting the ground clearance (building underground pathways or overhead roads) and suiting specific conditions of each road.

- The system of overhead roads

To build 4 interconnected overhead roads for direct traffic in axial routes with a large traffic flow, including:

+ Overhead road 1: From Cong Hoa crossroads, it stretches over Cong Hoa road - Bui Thi Xuan - Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal and lands on Nguyen Huu Canh road.

+ Overhead road 2: From its crossroads with overhead road 1 on expanded To Hien Thanh road, it stretches over To Hien Thanh road - Lu Gia - Binh Thoi - Lac Long Quan - Road No. 3 - belt road 2.

+ Overhead road 3: From its crossroads with overhead road 2 on To Hien Thanh road, it stretches over expanded Le Hong Phong road - Le Hong Phong - Ly Thai To - Nguyen Van Cu - expanded Nguyen Van Cu - Le Van Luong - Nguyen Van Linh.

+ Overhead road 4: From Binh Phuoc traffic hub, it stretches along national highway 13 over Sai Gon river - Vuon Lai - Nguyen Xi - Dinh Bo Linh - Dien Bien Phu roads before connecting to overhead road 1.

- Crossroads:

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- Big bridges and cross-river tunnels

+ Nha Be river: To build new bridge of Binh Khanh on the southern inter-regional expressway.

+ Long Tau river: To build new bridge of Phuoc Khanh on the southern inter-regional expressway.

+ Thi Vai river: To build new bridge of Phuoc An on the southern inter-regional expressway.

+ Dong Nai river: To build new bridges from upstream to downstream, including Thu Bien bridge (on belt road 4), Hoa An II bridge (on national highway 1K), Long Thanh bridge (Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway), Nhon Trach bridge (belt road 3) and Nhon Trach bridge (on Thu Thiem - Nhon Trach - Long Thanh international airport railway).

+ Sai Gon river: To build new bridges from upstream to downstream, including Phu Thuan bridge (on belt road 4), Binh Goi bridge (on belt road 3), Phu Long bridge (on provincial road 12), Tam Binh bridge (on the belt railway of Ho Chi Minh City), Binh Loi I bridge (on overhead road 2), Binh Loi II bridge (on belt road 1), Binh Loi III bridge (on the North-South railway), Binh Quoi bridge (on Thanh Da peninsula), Sai Gon II bridge (on Ha Noi road), Thu Thiem I bridge (on Ngo Tat To road), Thu Thiem II bridge (at Ba Son on Ton Duc Thang road), Thu Thiem III bridge (linking with District 4), Thu Thiem IV bridge (linking with District 7), Phu My bridge (on belt roads 1 and 2); and to build 2 new tunnels to Thu Thiem, including an underground road and a metro.

+ For Doi, Te, Cho Dem, Ong Lon, Xom Cui and Cac canals: To build new bridges from upstream to downstream in locations and of sizes according to the urban construction planning.

- The system of car terminals and parking lots:

+ To renovate and convert functions of the existing terminals and parking lots and build new ones in order to form a network of static traffic facilities meeting the demand for development of mass transit and private car parking in urban areas. To prioritize the building of underground and overhead parking lots in stable urban centers.

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+ To renovate and build warehouses for domestic customs clearance to meet the city’s cargo transport demand.

* Planning on the railway transport network

- National railways:

+ To renovate and upgrade Thong Nhat railway in Ho Chi Minh City from Trang Bom - Binh Trieu, and build Bien Hoa bypass railway to the south of the city and Binh Trieu - Hoa Hung - Tan Kien overhead railway.

+ To build a new railway from Ho Chi Minh City - Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, with a railway track connected to Thong Nhat railway at new Bien Hoa station.

+ To build Ho Chi Minh City - Loc Ninh - Cambodia railway (Trans-Asia railway), with a railway track connected to Thong Nhat railway at Di An station.

+ To build a new belt railway to the west of the city from An Binh station to Tan Kien station, My Tho, Can Tho province.

+ To build Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang electrified double-track express railway.

+ To build two new special-use railways linking the national railway with Hiep Phuoc and Cat Lai ports.

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- Urban railways:

To plan the combined use of national radial railways for suburban trains and build 2 light railways of Trang Bang - Tan Thoi Hiep and Thu Thiem - Nhon Trach - Long Thanh international airport.

* Planning on the metro system

To build 6 radial and loop subway lines linking major centers of the city, including:

- Line 1: Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien;

- Line 2: Tay Ninh car terminal - Truong Chinh - Tam Luong - Cach Mang Thang Tam - Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem;

- Line 3: National highway 13 - the car terminal for the eastern region - Xo Viet Nghe Tinh - Nguyen Thi Minh Khai - Tran Phu - Hung Vuong - Hong Bang - Cay Go;

- Line 4: Ben Cat bridge - Thong Nhat road - March 26 road (planned) - Nguyen Oanh - Nguyen Kiem - Phan Dinh Phung - Hai Ba Trung - Ben Thanh - Nguyen Thai Hoc - Khanh Hoi - Le Van Luong - Nguyen Van Linh;

- Line 5: New Can Giuoc car terminal - national highway 50 - Tung Thien Vuong - Ly Thuong Kiet - Hoang Van Thu - Phan Dang Luu - Bach Dang - Dien Bien Phu - Sai Gon bridge;

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- To plan the building of 7 depots for the above 6 subways.

* Planning on light rail tramway or monoray tramway lines

To build 3 monoray tramway lines, including:

- Line 1: Sai Gon - Cho Lon - Mien Tay (western region) car terminal;

- Line 2: Nguyen Van Linh from national highway 50 (District 8) to District 2;

- Line 3: Six-direction road junction Go Vap - Quang Trung software park - Tan Thoi Hiep station;

- To build 3 depots for the above monoray tramway lines.

* Planning on waterway transport network

- Routes - channels:

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Long Tau river channel: By 2010 to renovate curves, bends on the channel and the vessel traffic system (VTS) to ensure the safety of vessel navigation.

Soai Rap river channel: By 2020 this channel will be used from Long Tau channel and exploited as a two-way navigable channel taking advantage of tide. The navigable channel in upstream Soai Rap river will be developed to receive container ships of a tonnage of up to 20,000 DWT at a new general port in Hiep Phuoc.

+ Channels for river ships:

To renovate and upgrade inter-provincial channels:

Ho Chi Minh City - Ca Mau channel into a grade-III river channel;

Ho Chi Minh City - Kien Luong channel (through Rach Soi) into a grade-III river channel;

Ho Chi Minh City - Dong Thap Muoi channel (through Long Xuyen quadrangle) into a grade-III river channel;

Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Hoa channel into a grade-III river channel;

Ho Chi Minh City - Ben Suc into a grade-III river channel;

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The short-cut channel linking Thi Vai river - Vung Tau to the Mekong River delta will be of grade-III river channel;

+ To renovate and upgrade the waterway transport channels in the inner city:

Belt waterway channel 1: To upgrade the Sai Gon river - Ben Cat canal - Cho Moi canal - Nuoc Len canal - Doi canal - Te canal - Sai Gon river channel into a grade-IV or grade-V canal;

Belt waterway channel 2: To upgrade the Sai Gon river - Tra canal - Xang canal - Cau An Ha canal - Cho Dem river - Doi canal - Te canal - Sai Gon river channel into a grade-IV canal.

- The system of seaports

+ Not to expand and build more ports on the whole Sai Gon river and to work out a plan on relocation of existing ports in line with the detailed planning on the seaport group of Ho Chi Minh City - Dong Nai - Ba Ria Ố Vung Tau (group 5). The relocation of ports must be carried out according to a reasonable roadmap and with an appropriate policy so as to make relocation plans highly feasible, cause no congestion and waste, and limit adverse impacts on production, business, security and defense. Ports that need to be relocated before 2010 include: Sai Gon new port, Ba Son shipyard, Nha Rong and Khanh Hoi port facilities of Sai Gon Port, Tan Thuan Dong port and the vegetable and fruit port. After 2010, to step by step study the relocation of the remaining ports subject to relocation.

+ To invest in building Cat Lai and Hiep Phuoc ports to serve the relocation of existing ports in the inner city and meet the goods export and import demand of the region, industrial parks, after-port export processing zones, factories and production establishments along Dong Nai, Nha Be and Soai Rap rivers.

+ Nha Be port facility will serve mainly the import of petrol and oil for Ho Chi Minh City and its vicinity. To build Nha Be general port to serve the relocation of the ports in the inner city and Hiep Phuoc industrial park.

+ To build a passenger ship landing at the center of Nha Rong - Khanh Hoi landing facility.

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- The system of river ports

+ To build new Phu Dinh port in Ward 16, District 8.

+ To build new Nhon Duc river port (at the T-junction of Ba Lao canal and Doi canal) in Nha Be district in order to meet the demand for riverway cargo transshipment from the Mekong River delta through Hiep Phuoc seaport cluster.

+ To plan a passenger ship landing on Sai Gon river near Thi Nghe canal.

* Planning on the system of airports

By 2020, Tan Son Nhat international airport will become an aerobridge of the region and the world; it will be renovated and upgraded to reach a capacity of 9 million passengers/year by 2010 and 20 million passengers/year by 2020.

To formulate a project on investment in building of Long Thanh international airport in Dong Nai province, which will be constructed after 2010.

4. Priority projects in the period from now to 2010

From now to 2010, investment will be concentrated on the following projects:

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- Building of radial expressways: In addition to Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway currently under construction, it is necessary to expeditiously invest in building Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway. Other expressways must be further studied for investment in BOT, BT or BTO form.

- Building of belt road 2 in a full circuit and belt road 1 from Tan Son Nhat - Binh Loi - Kha Van Can crossroads and a section linking belt road 1 with belt road 2 (Kha Van Can crossroads - Linh Xuan crossroads), belt road 3 from Ha Noi road to national highway 22.

- Building of overhead road 1 which will stretch from Cong Hoa crossroads over Cong Hoa - Bui Thi Xuan road along Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal and land on Nguyen Huu Canh road.

- Renovation and expansion of a number of thoroughfares, level crossings and grade junctions in the inner city to help settle the traffic congestion.

- Building of new Mien Dong, Song Tac, Mien Tay and Xuyen A car terminals, bus stations and terminals and parking lots for buses and taxis; building of (underground, ground and overhead) car parks in the inner districts. Building of terminals for trucks at the gateways of the city and Linh Xuan, Long Truong and Tan Kien domestic customs clearance warehouses.

- Mobilization of capital sources for construction of one or two of the four priority subway lines (subway line 1 of Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien, subway line 2 of Tham Luong - Ben Thanh, subway line 3 of Mien Dong car terminal - Phu Lam roundabout and subway line 4 of Nga Sau - Go Vap - Khanh Hoi).

- Building of a pilot monoray tramway line of Sai Gon - Cho Lon - Mien Tay car terminal (along the East - West avenue).

- Renovation of 2 channels for sea-going ships: Long Tau and Soai Rap river channels; building of new Hiep Phuoc port cluster, Nha Be general port and Cat Lai port; renovation and upgrading of channels for river ship navigation through the neighboring provinces of the city and the Mekong River delta provinces; renovation and upgrading of 2 channels for waterway transport in the inner city (belt channels 1 and 2); building of Phu Dinh and Nhon Duc river ports.

5. Implementation mechanisms, policies and solutions

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b/ For centrally managed transport projects in the city, which are decisive to the city’s and the whole region’s communications and transport development but in which investment has not yet been made due to lack of conditions, the Transport Ministry is permitted to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the People’s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and the concerned provinces in, studying and proposing financial mechanisms to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision for performance of ground clearance, recovery and assignment of land to local administrations for temporary management so as to reserve the land area for transport development under the planning;

c/ To permit the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to mobilize all resources to develop urban railways into one of key modes of mass transit in Ho Chi Minh City;

d/ Organizations and individuals that invest in building and operating urban railways are entitled to preferential policies for urban railway development provided for by law.

Article 2.- Planning management

It is an urgent requirement to tightly manage the land area reserved for traffic in order to ensure the feasibility of the planning in the context of rapid urbanization in Ho Chi Minh City.

- After the planning is approved, the Transport Ministry shall coordinate with the People’s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and the concerned provinces in publicizing the planning and zoning off land areas reserved for traffic and hand over them to local administrations for management in order to avoid overlapping in construction licensing.

- For the metro network, apart from managing its landmarks on the ground, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City shall direct concerned local services, branches and administrations in tightly managing construction planning and licensing for high-rises and works with deep foundations occupying underground spaces along planned subway lines, and reserving and tightly managing the land area for subway depots.

- The Transport Ministry and the People’s Committees of the concerned localities shall regularly direct the inspection of the management and use of the land area reserved for traffic, ensuring the use of land for proper purposes and in line with the planning. When detecting a violation, it shall resolutely recover the encroached land to ensure the sufficient land area for transport development.

Article 3.- Organization of implementation

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- To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, branches and People’s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and concerned provinces in, assigning responsibilities and working out plans on implementation of national communications and transport development projects in their respective localities under each five-year plan, then submitting them to the Prime Minister for approval;

- To base itself on the approved planning to direct specialized departments in managing and implementing national communication and transport projects in Ho Chi Minh City according to the socio-economic development requirements;

- In case of necessity to supplement or adjust the planning, to coordinate with the People’s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and concerned provinces in proposing planning supplements or adjustments to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

2. Responsibilities of the People’s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and concerned provinces:

- To review and adjust their own plannings and projects in their respective localities to make them compatible with this planning;

- To coordinate with the Transport Ministry, the Construction Ministry and concerned ministries and branches in elaborating detailed plannings on development of transport systems in their respective localities, deciding on sizes of construction works under planning;

- To coordinate with the Planning and Investment Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Transport Ministry and the concerned branches in identifying investment capital sources and formulating appropriate mechanisms and policies to ensure the feasibility of the approved planning.

Article 4.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Article 5.- Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and the presidents of the People’s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City, and Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Long An, Tien Giang and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces shall implement this Decision.

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THE PRIME MINISTER




Nguyen Tan Dung