Nhon Trach and Long Thanh joining Ho Chi Minh City will remove barriers and create a 'buffer zone' for the megacity after the merger.

Experts say that if Nhon Trach is merged, it will become an important "buffer zone", creating better infrastructure connections between existing areas of Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province, with areas of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province - Photo: A LOC

Talking to Tuoi Tre Online , Dr. Du Phuoc Tan - former head of the Urban Management Research Department, Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, currently a research expert at the Institute - shared: "Based on theoretical basis, criteria of natural area, population, cultural history, politics, economy, national security and defense..., the planned merger of Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Duong is very reasonable.

However, this merger plan is currently limited due to the practical separation between Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau by the Nhon Trach area (Dong Nai).

No more "hanging out" at the neighbor's house

* If Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau are merged into Ho Chi Minh City under the "province-merge-province" plan, what specific differences will there be, sir?

- Currently, the plans to merge the province with the province have closely followed the theoretical foundations and scientific grounds on population size, area, national master plan, regional plan, local plan, socio-economic development strategy, etc.

At the same time, it creates opportunities to expand development space, promote comparative advantages, meet development requirements for each locality and requirements and development orientations of the new stage...

However, when looking at the map of the proposed merger plan of Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, it is clear that there is a large gap between Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau due to the buffer zone in the middle, Nhon Trach district (Dong Nai).

At the same time, there is no direct road connection between Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau. These two localities only border each other for a very short distance at Can Gio (Ho Chi Minh City) and Phu My (Ba Ria - Vung Tau).

When the two localities merge, people who want to go from the existing Ho Chi Minh City area to the Ba Ria - Vung Tau area will have to borrow Dong Nai road through Nhon Trach (by ferry) or Long Thanh (by expressway and National Highway 51).

If this bottleneck is not resolved, trade between Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau will be limited.

Nhon Trach and Long Thanh districts are adjacent to and embrace the expressway, National Highway 51 - the traffic routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau - Graphics: PHUONG NHI

* Assuming Nhon Trach is not merged into the new Ho Chi Minh City, what do you think the traffic plan will be like?

- The only connection is to develop all types of roads along the southern area of ​​District 7, down to Nha Be, Can Gio, and build a bridge over Ba Ria - Vung Tau. However, developing a transportation system through Can Gio is currently difficult, especially since it can have a big impact on the UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve forest, which is not easy to do.

Therefore, if Nhon Trach is merged, it will become an important "buffer zone", creating better infrastructure connections between existing areas of Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province, with areas of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.

Nhon Trach and Long Thanh are also the areas where the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway, Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 with bridges connecting the two banks of the Dong Nai River pass through. If Nhon Trach, Long Thanh (or a part of Long Thanh) is merged into Ho Chi Minh City, it will create conditions to upgrade and develop traffic routes connecting the vital development spaces in the new administrative unit.

Still ensuring Dong Nai retains important resources

* There are also concerns that Nhon Trach currently has 11 industrial parks. If merged into Ho Chi Minh City, will Dong Nai lose that advantage?

- This perspective is correct when merging, we must stand on the perspective not of this province or that province but of development efficiency. To do so, we must find the most optimal solution, otherwise it will create discontinuities and spatial barriers that limit trade and travel.

If Nhon Trach district is added to the new Ho Chi Minh City, it will help link existing large industrial clusters including Hiep Phuoc, Nhon Trach and the logistics seaport system of Hiep Phuoc, Cai Mep - Thi Vai and the future Can Gio transit port into an extremely strong export-oriented production cluster.

As for Long Thanh district, as mentioned, it is embracing the main traffic routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Therefore, if the boundary is adjusted, it is possible to choose National Highway 51 as the boundary or adjust some communes along National Highway 51 and the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway to Ho Chi Minh City. This will still ensure the preservation of important resources, including Long Thanh airport in Dong Nai province.

On the other hand, if Nhon Trach land is left as it is, it will be difficult to develop a breakthrough because of the lack of a connecting traffic system. Currently, in the planning of Ho Chi Minh City, there is a planned bridge connecting the area of ​​District 7 (Ho Chi Minh City) and Phu Huu commune (Nhon Trach), tentatively called Phu My 2 bridge and a bridge to replace Cat Lai ferry (Cat Lai bridge) connecting the current Thu Duc city area and Nhon Trach district.

Therefore, when Nhon Trach is merged into Ho Chi Minh City, the investment in the road and bridge system will help to soon implement the planning, creating conditions for quick connection between Nhon Trach and Ho Chi Minh City, thereby effectively exploiting the large land fund with much potential in the East of Ho Chi Minh City at present.

Proposal to bring Nhon Trach, Long Thanh to Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Giao, Bac Tan Uyen, Xuyen Moc to Dong Nai to complete both sides

The merger plan discussed by many people: bringing Long Thanh and Nhon Trach to Ho Chi Minh City; bringing Xuyen Moc, Bac Tan Uyen, Phu Giao to Dong Nai, to facilitate traffic, avoiding having to "borrow roads" after the merger - Graphics: N.KH.

Previously, articles on Tuoi Tre Online about "Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai must borrow from each other when merging provinces?" and "Will Dong Nai have a sea after the merger?" attracted the attention of many experts and people participating in the discussion.

Faced with the rare situation of merging as in the above plan, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City would have to "borrow roads" from each other to go to other communes in the same area, experts and people have proposed and made remarkable suggestions.

Many opinions suggest merging Long Thanh and Nhon Trach (Dong Nai) into Ho Chi Minh City, and at the same time moving Phu Giao and Bac Tan Uyen (Binh Duong) into Dong Nai for convenient transportation. At the same time, moving Xuyen Moc to La Gi into Dong Nai so that this province has a road to the sea.

This viewpoint is also considered by many readers as a win-win solution. This is to create favorable conditions for localities in organizing traffic and implementing railway and metro projects from the center to the areas and communes in the locality.

However, there is also an idea to merge the entire Nhon Trach district and part of the communes of Long Thanh district (bordering Nhon Trach) into Ho Chi Minh City. The communes on the left (following Highway 51 from Ho Chi Minh City to Ba Ria - Vung Tau) will remain in Dong Nai.

This will help Ho Chi Minh City fully connect with Ba Ria - Vung Tau area by road, while ensuring that Long Thanh airport is retained for Dong Nai.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhon-trach-long-thanh-ve-tp-hcm-se-xoa-ngan-cach-tao-vung-dem-cho-sieu-do-thi-sau-sap-nhap-20250402070406896.htm