As the Government submits the investment policy for the Ring Road 5 – Hanoi Capital Region project to the National Assembly for consideration, Quang Ninh has formally proposed the addition of an expressway of approximately 55 km linking the Hai Phong – Ha Long Expressway directly to Ring Road 5. The proposal is seen as potentially opening a further strategic connection between Quang Ninh and the Hanoi Capital Region, while also bearing on the development direction of the locality’s coastal industrial areas, including the Quang Yen area.
Ring Road 5 – Hanoi Capital Region: seven provinces and cities along the main route
According to data released by the Ministry of Construction (MOC), Ring Road 5 has a total length of approximately 349 km and passes through seven provinces and cities: Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh and Phu Tho, with 95 bridges and 46 interchanges. The main route meets six-lane expressway standard with a design speed of 100–120 km/h and a total investment of VND 288,268 billion.
On 5 August 2026, the Quang Ninh National Assembly Delegation submitted Official Letter No. 86/DDBQH to the Chairman of the National Assembly, proposing that an expressway of approximately 55 km connecting the Hai Phong – Ha Long Expressway to Ring Road 5 be added to the Road Network Master Plan for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision to 2050.
Key parameters of the proposed route:
The connectivity proposal comes as Quang Ninh undergoes a significant shift in its development model. At the third plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee, the Central Committee agreed on the policy of establishing Quang Ninh as a centrally administered city. On 27 July 2026, the Government approved the scheme dossier; on 4 August 2026, the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed to submit to the National Assembly, for consideration and adoption, the resolution establishing Quang Ninh City and Bac Ninh City at the first extraordinary session of the 16th National Assembly. The resolution is expected to take effect on 1 September 2026.
Under the new development model, Quang Ninh is pursuing an integrated multimodal transport network — road, rail, seaport, aviation and logistics — with economic corridors and the seaport system as its drivers. If approved, the link to Ring Road 5 would add a direct westward connection, allowing Quang Ninh not only to complete its existing longitudinal corridors but also to integrate more deeply with the Hanoi Capital Region and the growth poles to the west.
According to the proposal, if the 55 km expressway is added to the master plan and built, it would have a substantial impact across the following areas:
- Shorter transit times and lower transport and logistics costs, with greater goods-handling capacity and improved access to the major markets of the Hanoi Capital Region
- Wider development space for businesses, greater appeal to investment capital, and conditions for the formation of further industrial parks, urban areas and services along the route corridor
- A larger tourism market radius, with easier connections between Quang Ninh’s destinations and Hai Phong, the Hanoi Capital Region and other northern localities
- A more complete transport map for Quang Ninh oriented toward regional connectivity, consistent with the shift from development thinking bounded by administrative borders toward the use of inter-regional economic corridors
VB Quang Yen Industrial Park (VB Quang Yen IP) — 407.71 hectares, developed by VB Nha Mac Joint Stock Company, the licensed project investor under Decision No. 335/QD-BQLKKT dated 28 June 2026 — has a boundary adjoining the Ha Long – Hai Phong Expressway. This is the same expressway from which the proposed 55 km link would start, at the Ha Long Xanh interchange (Km6+700).
In locational terms, this means that if the 55 km link is approved and implemented, the Quang Yen area — where VB Quang Yen IP is located — would gain an additional infrastructure route along the Ha Long – Hai Phong Expressway corridor leading to Ring Road 5, opening more convenient access to the Hanoi Capital Region without the need to route through central Hai Phong or Hanoi.
Once the Ring Road 5 route is completed and the 55 km link is approved and implemented, the Quang Yen area has the potential to benefit from a wider reach into the consumer markets, labor supply and logistics networks of the Hanoi Capital Region — complementing the positioning of VB
Quang Yen as a “port-integrated industrial park,” which is already the project’s core point of differentiation from conventional industrial parks in the region.
