The Vietnam Expressway Company (VEC) on August 29 held a ceremony to open a 20-km section of the 55-km Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay.

The section running from Ring Road II in District 9 in HCM City to National Highway 51 in Long Thanh District has six lanes, including emergency lanes.

At the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong highlighted the effectiveness of the expressway to the southern economic hub and praised the efforts of investors, contractors and consultants in speeding up construction for the project's completion in 2015.

After the ceremony, trucks of over 10 tonnes and container trucks from 20 feet to 40 feet long will be allowed to use the highway.

The expressway allows vehicles to travel at 120km per hour, and at 100km per hour on Long Thanh bridge.
The construction of the HCM City- Long Thanh – Dau Giay expressway began in October 2009, with a total investment of more than 20.6 trillion VND (981 million USD) sourced from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).-VNA