A 142.2 km stretch of the Phan Thiet – Nha Trang Expressway will be built under the public–private partnership (PPP) mode, according to the Cuu Long Corp. for Investment Development and Project Investment for Infrastructure (Cuu Long CIPM).

The project has been submitted by the latter to the Ministry of Transport for approval.

The expressway, to run from Phan Rang town in southern central Ninh Thuan province to National Highway 1A in southern central Binh Thuan province, will be 17 metres wide and have four lanes, allowing vehicles to travel at up to 80km per hour.

It will cost over 17.8 trillion VND (818 million USD), including 12.145 trillion VND (over 557 million USD) for the construction alone.

Cuu Long CIPM has proposed dividing the project into two sub-projects, one a 14.767 trillion VND BOT (build – operate – transfer) work and the other a 3.066 billion VND segment to be funded by official development assistance (ODA).

This stretch of the Phan Thiet – Nha Trang Expressway is scheduled to open to traffic in 2021.

It is part of a 235km Nha Trang – Phan Thiet Expressway that will run from Khanh Hoa province's Dien Khanh district to the northern point of the Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway on National Highway 1A in Binh Thuan province.

This section, which will have 97 bridges, is expected to cost 46 trillion VND (over 2.1 billion USD).

It will be the North – South Expressway running from Hanoi to the Mekong city of Can Tho.-VNA