The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam will offer Laos a 53.16 million USD loan for its construction of a road in the northern province of Houaphanh later this year.

A deal to this effect was signed in Vientiane on June 20, with Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavad Lenhsavad and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung in attendance.

The two-lane road will stretch as far as 67km from Houaphanh’s Sam Tay district to Tha Lau in the border between Vietnam and Laos.

It was also designed to run to Nghi Son deep-water port in Vietnam’s central province of Thanh Hoa, which is expected to be another launch pad to facilitate their trade activities.

Lao Finance Minister Lien Thikeo, in his speech, vowed to direct agencies concerned to utilise the sum to the fullest.-VNA