The Ministry of Construction has ordered the Mỹ Thuận Project Management Board and contractors to urgently accelerate work on unfinished sections of the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau expressway, warning that continued delays could jeopardise traffic safety and disrupt operations on the key Mekong Delta transport corridor.
Following a site inspection recently, the ministry said several critical items on the Cần Thơ-Hậu Giang section, including road shoulders, drainage works and slope reinforcement, remain incomplete and must be finished immediately to ensure safe operation of the route.
On the Hậu Giang-Cà Mau section, the ministry noted that some contractors have failed to mobilise sufficient manpower, materials and equipment to complete traffic safety systems and asphalt paving in line with the approved schedule.
After nearly three years of construction, the 111-kilometre, four-lane expressway is largely complete, with total investment exceeding VNĐ27.5 trillion (US$1.1 billion). Phase one comprises two sections: the 37.6-km Cần Thơ-Hậu Giang stretch and the more than 73-km Hậu Giang-Cà Mau section.
The Cần Thơ-Hậu Giang section was inaugurated on December 19 and opened to traffic on December 22, 2025, while the Hậu Giang-Cà Mau section was technically opened to traffic on December 19.
To prevent further delays, the Ministry of Construction instructed the Mỹ Thuận Project Management Board, the project investor, to urgently review and update traffic safety systems and focus on completing all remaining works on the main route. These include fencing, shoulders, concrete drains, lighting, service roads, slope reinforcement, interchanges and connecting roads.
The investor was also ordered to strengthen traffic management on sections already in operation, deploy sufficient personnel to guide vehicles and ensure safety, particularly at expressway entrances and exits.
For the Hậu Giang-Cà Mau section, the project management board was told to press contractors to complete service roads, interchanges and outstanding works, and bring the main route into full operation as planned.
The ministry warned that contractors who continue to miss deadlines or fail to meet requirements could face strict measures, including being barred from future projects overseen by the ministry.
Once fully operational, the expressway is expected to cut travel time between HCM City and Cà Mau to about 3.5 to four hours, nearly half the journey time via National Highway 1.
Long-awaited logistics boost
The Cần Thơ-Cà Mau expressway is the final link in a continuous expressway corridor from HCM City to Việt Nam’s southernmost province, a project long awaited by businesses and residents across the Mekong Delta.
Nguyễn Văn Tỉnh, owner of a major seafood export company in the region, said the expressway has already begun transforming logistics for his business, which operates a processing plant near a Cần Thơ interchange and exports 300-350 containers a month.
“Shrimp from Cà Mau now reaches our factory in about an hour, compared with two to two-and-a-half hours previously,” he said, adding that shipments to ports in HCM City and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu are also significantly faster. While transport costs have not fallen sharply, he said shorter delivery times have improved competitiveness.
Lê Văn Quý, who runs a transport company with more than 30 container trucks hauling agricultural produce to HCM City, said travel time from Cà Mau has dropped to four to five hours from seven to eight previously, while fuel costs have fallen by about 30 per cent.
“Goods arrive faster and fresher,” he said. “This expressway has been a decades-long dream for transport operators in the Mekong Delta.”
At the policy level, Phạm Ngọc Thạch, deputy head of the legal committee at the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said expressways such as Cần Thơ-Cà Mau, Châu Đốc-Cần Thơ-Sóc Trăng and An Hữu-Cao Lãnh would help cut regional logistics costs by 30-40 per cent by improving access to HCM City and the Cái Mép-Thị Vải port complex.
“Modern, well-connected transport infrastructure will be a major draw for foreign investment in the Mekong Delta, particularly in logistics and agro-seafood processing,” he said.
Cà Mau provincial chairman Lữ Quang Ngời described the expressway as “particularly important” for the province and the wider region, saying it opens up new development opportunities in agriculture, fisheries and tourism.
The project has faced significant challenges, including large-scale land clearance, material shortages, weak soil conditions, adverse weather and price volatility.
Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has conducted multiple site inspections and chaired meetings to remove bottlenecks, while at peak periods, more than 3,000 engineers and workers and around 1,500 machines were deployed in round-the-clock shifts.
Designed with four lanes and a 17-metre-wide cross-section, the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau expressway is expected to significantly ease pressure on National Highway 1, the Mekong Delta’s main transport artery, as Việt Nam accelerates efforts to modernise infrastructure in its agricultural heartland.