Investors met with local authorities on August 21 to negotiate conditions, including supply of building materials, for the construction of a tunnel through the Deo Ca pass in the central region.

Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provincial administrations pledged to have all preparations for the project complete before it kicks off in October 2010, including the construction site, ground clearance, supply of services and allocation of land for temporary housing for workers and foreign experts.

The Deo Ca Pass tunnel project will have a total length of over 11 km with four lanes of traffic going in each direction.

Once completed, the project will help cut the journey across the most dangerous pass in the central region by nine km, helping to save an estimated 85 billion VND annually in transport costs and reduce traffic accidents and jams.

The total investment, estimated at almost 9.52 trillion VND (roughly 530 million USD), has been well prepared with loan commitments from the Societe Generale Bank and Calyon Bank of France and the issuance of bonds by the Phu My Bridge Joint-stock Company on the international market with assistance from the Gold Man Sach financial group of the US.
The first phase, which will take almost 8.1 trillion VND, will take four years for the construction of two roads each with just two lanes./.