The projects will be financed by loan from the World Bank (WB) of more than 8.5trillion VND (369 million USD).
The projects aim to improve travelling capacity, strengthen the connection ofthe East-West corridor, and accelerate trade with Laos and the northeast regionof Thailand.
The project of upgrading 38.6km of National Highway No. 279 starting from DienBien Phu city in the northern border passing Tay Trang Border Gate to milestoneNo. 113 of Dien Bien district of Dien Bien province will have total investmentof 1.5 trillion VND (64.8 million USD).
The road will be upgraded so vehicles may travel at speeds of 60-80km per hour.
The section of National Highway 12C passing Vung Ang-Ho Chi Minh Trail incentral provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh will need an investment of more than2 trillion VND (85.4 million USD) with a total length of 89.3km for speeds of60-80km per hour.
The project of upgrading 59km of National Highway 217 in the central provinceof Thanh Hoa will be worth 2.15 trillion VND (91.8 million USD) while therenovation of 38km of National Highway 12A in Quang Binh and 20km of NationalHighway 1 and Cam Lo-La Son Expressway in Quang Tri province will cost 1.43trillion VND (61.1 million USD) and 1.38 trillion VND (59.2 million USD),respectively.
According to the ministry, within the total investment of 369 million USD, 292million USD will be used for construction, equipment, technical designconsultancy, construction design consultancy and construction supervisionconsulting.
Nearly 77 million USD will be spent on project management, constructioninvestment consulting, site clearance, taxes, fees and other expenses.
The project implementation time is set by the Ministry of Transport from 2024to 2028 after the funding agreement comes into effect.
Currently, the ministry is further working with the WB to seek morenon-refundable aid to increase incentive value and feasibility.
According to the ministry, the renovation and upgrading of the nationalhighways aims to improve navigation capacity, transportation needs, shorten thedistance between border gates and seaports which helps reduce transport costs,environmental pollution and traffic accidents as well as serve thesocio-economic development of the areas./.
VNA