Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai on April 23 kicked off construction of the third bidding package of the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay highway in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Covering construction work from Long Thanh bridge to highway 51 in Dong Nai province, the third bidding package was undertaken by Posco E&C of the Republic of Korea.

The 55-km expressway, which is being built at a cost of 932 million USD put up by the Vietnam Highway Investment and Development Company, stretches from HCM City to four districts of Dong Nai province.

It is designed with eight lanes, 42.5 metres wide and speed limit at of 120km/h. Some 20 small and medium size bridges will span the highway.

The expressway is expected to promote socio-economic development and create opportunities for localities in the South-East region to exploit their strength after it open to traffic in 2012./.