The road leading to Tra Linh border gate is being upgraded.

Investors in Cao Bang have applauded the Government’s approval of the plan. According to the Quang Anh International Joint Stock Company, which specializes in cargo transportation, Tra Linh border gate is convenient for goods exchanges between Vietnam and Southern China.

Tu Ngoc Anh, the company’s Deputy Director, said, “We hope when the expressway will enable a greater volume of export goods to be transported to Cao Bang province. Roads right now are poor, increasing the cost of transporting cargo to Cao Bang.”

The new expressway will connect Tra Linh with three important border crossings in Lang Son province - Huu Nghi, Coc Nam, and Tan Thanh – and will shorten the time needed to drive from Cao Bang to Hanoi or Hai Phong.

And it will make Cao Bang a vital link between Lach Huyen International Port in Hai Phong and the Zhuang Autonomous Region in Guangxi province, Guiyang city in Guizhou province, Chongqing city, and Urumqi city, as well as Khorgos in Kazakhstan, and beyond to the countries of Europe. It will be a new economic corridor between China and ASEAN countries.

Hoang Xuan Anh, Chairman of Cao Bang’s provincial People's Committee, said that although Cao Bang has a long border, its border economy has suffered from unofficial cross border commercial traffic.

Although Cao Bang has many advantages over a long border and many pairs of border crossing, its border economic growth remains modest.

Cao Bang wants to be a shipment hub from China through Vietnam’s seaports to ASEAN countries, said Anh.

He added, “To rapidly turn Cao Bang into a transit hub, the province will implement infrastructure and border trade policies, and will ask the government to open up an international transportation route along the expressway and build a cross-border economic cooperation zone between Cao Bang’s Tra Linh and China’s Long Ping.”

Cao Bang has upgraded Tra Linh to an international border crossing by improving its infrastructure and warehouse systems and applying IT to customs clearance.

Routes leading to smaller border gates like Po Peo, Duc Long, and Ly Van have been upgraded, said Ly Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the Management Board of the Cao Bang Border Economic Zone.

He told VOV,  “Tra Linh border gate will be a transit hub connecting Hanoi and Hai Phong with China’s southwest, which has favorable conditions for economic development.”

“We will invest in infrastructure and connect infrastructure services to improve customs procedures. It will only take a couple of minutes to complete the procedures for an export container. A number of businesses have installed custom inter-sectoral software," said Khanh.

The Dong Dang-Tra Linh expressway will help Cao Bang attract investors to develop its border economy and set a strong example for other northern border localities.