Viet Nam : Hoa Binh Province Tourism Infrastructure Development Project

Transport / Road transport (non-urban)

The proposed Hoa Binh Province Tourism Infrastructure Development Project will upgrade and construct transport infrastructure with climate-resilient features and develop digitally-enabled tourism services to improve the sustainable tourism environment of Hoa Binh province. The project is expected to benefit approximately 249,000 people by improved transport infrastructure and more employment and income-generating opportunities.

Hoa Binh is a mountainous province, located in the northwest region of Viet Nam, 74 kilometers south-west of Ha Noi. Hoa Binh province land area is 466,200 hectares account for 1.4% of the total land area of 33,121,000 hectares of Viet Nam. The total population is 861,216 (with 428,955 women) living in nine districts and in Hoa Binh city. Endowed with landscapes of green valleys, a beautiful reservoir surrounded by mountains and natural caves, and unique cultural characteristics from different ethnic groups, the province has a high potential to become a sought-after tourism destination. However, this potential is underexplored, and Hoa Binh province remains one of Viet Nam's poorer provinces. In 2021, the provincial poverty rate was 6.23% compared to the national poverty rate of 2.23%.

Roadways and waterways are the major means of transportation in Hoa Binh province. Road density is 0.71 kilometers per square-kilometer, slightly lower than the national average of 0.81, but few roads have climate-resilient designs. The national highway number 6 connects Hoa Binh province with Ha Noi, the national capital. The Da river runs through Hoa Binh province for 151 kilometers and connects the province to the northern province of Son La. The poor conditions and unsafe roads, particularly in the Hoa Binh reservoir area, restrict visitor access to the tourism sites and rural mobility with slow average travel speeds to 30 kilometers per-hour and produce 93 reported traffic accidents per year (2021). Poor physical connectivity by roads and inland water ways around the Hoa Binh reservoir makes the destination less attractive to visitors and impedes private investment in tourism. There are 51 private sector investment proposals in developing tourism and hospitality facilities in the project area; however, the lack of quality infrastructure has suppressed private sector investment. Improvements in public infrastructure is required to unlock this significant private investment potential.

Hoa Binh province has a high risk of flash floods and landslides caused by tropical storms. Floods in Hoa Binh province and surrounding districts caused hundreds of casualties and more than D800 billion worth of damages during 2016. Although the existing transport infrastructure is designed to withstand major flooding events, they remain vulnerable to extreme weather and climate events because the current designs do not adequately account for climate change.

Hoa Binh's tourism industry entered the year 2020 with high growth momentum from the 20162019 period. Annual tourist arrivals reached 3.10 million in 2019 (of which 406,000 were international) but dropped to 1.98 million in 2020 (258,000 international) due to the coronavirus disease pandemic. Tourism development in Hoa Binh province also continues to be constrained by inadequate access to tourism destinations, a weak enabling business environment for tourism, and a shortage of skills in the hospitality industry. For example, there are many tourist attractions around the Hoa Binh reservoir, with growing eco-friendly tourism services in rural areas and locally produced organic products that can be sold in the local markets. However, poor last mile physical connectivity impedes visitors and causes high transportation costs.

Hoa Binh province's socioeconomic development plans for the period 20212025 and vision to 2030 focus on developing public infrastructure and services, in particular the development of transport infrastructure, and improvement of connectivity to, and around, the Hoa Binh reservoir area. In March 2021, the Prime Minister approved the Master Plan for Tourism Development. The Master Plan aims to upgrade the Hoa Binh reservoir to become a National Tourism Area and one of the national tourism centers in the northern mountainous region.

Inclusive and more balanced tourism development that contributes to the socioeconomic development of Hoa Binh province.

Enabling environment for quality tourism investment strengthened in Hoa Binh province.

Transport infrastructure improved.

Digitally-enable tourism services developed.

1.The proposed project will upgrade climate resilient transport infrastructure and develop digitally enabled tourism services to attract quality tourism investment in Hoa Binh province.

2.The proposed physical works include (i) Upgrading 28 km rural roads to access to tourist sites and support local residents to transport agricultural products to market more efficiently and access education and health services (ii) upgrading and expanding a tourism port (Thung Nai port) located in Cao Phong district, 25 kilometers from Hoa Binh city to improve water transport and recreation services on the Hoa Binh reservoir (iii) building a cross-river bridge to relieve the growing traffic in Hoa Binh city and improve the connectivity with the existing northern provincial transport networks. None of the proposed infrastructure is in legally protected areas or areas recognized for their biodiversity value.

3.The terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity surveys on the forest areas, related to the road subproject, and Da River and the Hoa Binh hydropower reservoir, related to port and cross-river bridge subprojects, will be conducted to identify the potential impacts caused by project construction and operation, especially on species which are identified in the IUCN red list. The requested mitigation/offset measures to address the impacts will be formulated and implemented.

4.The potential negative impacts generated during construction mainly include elevated traffic safety risks, dust and noise and insanitation on residences along the road subproject and tourist activities on port subproject. There are also potential risks of occupational safety and Da water pollution on the construction of te bridge crossing Da river. The risks can be mitigated using proper engineering designs and construction management measures that will be required in environment safeguards documents to be prepared following ADB's Safeguards Policy Statement (2009).

5.The climate risk assessment will be conducted to identify the climate risks e, g landslides on the slope side of the road subproject and flooding on the bridge subproject, which the climate resilience measures will be integrated in the design of the project infrastructures to address these risks.