A 27.62km section of the Noi Bai-Lao Cai highway through the northern border province of Lao Cai was opened on a trial basis on April 1.

The section, traversing Van Ban and Bao Yen districts, was built at a cost of over 1.6 trillion VND (76.2 million USD). Construction started in January 2010.

The 245km Noi Bai-Lao Cai highway contains eight sections, two of which are in Lao Cai.

The newly opened segment is the last in Lao Cai and the third of the whole route to see traffic.

The highway links Hanoi and the northern provinces of Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai. Its construction started in 2009 with a total investment of over 1.2 billion USD.

As an important project in the Kunming-Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong road corridor, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai highway is part of a cooperation programme among six countries in the Mekong Sub-region, including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and China.-VNA