Vietnam on April 24 inaugurated the Can Tho Bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in Southeast Asia , after five and a half years of construction.

Spanning over the Hau river, the 15.85km long and 23.1m wide bridge has four lanes for vehicles and two lanes for pedestrians, linking Vinh Long and Can Tho provinces.

The project has a total investment capital of 342.6 million USD (around 4.8 trillion VND) which was funded by Japan ’s official development assistance and the Vietnamese State budget.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung underlined that the bridge has a great significance, not only to the national economy but also to socio-politics, security and defence for the southwestern region, the Mekong delta region and the whole country.

It is a vivid symbol for the national modernisation and industrialisation process, PM Dung said.

The bridge helps facilitate traffic flow between Ho Chi Minh City , southeastern provinces and Mekong delta and southwestern provinces. It will directly improve the life for over 16 million residents in south of the Hau river.

From now on, vehicles can run smoothly from the National Highway 1A from the northern mountainous province of Lang Son to the southern most point of Ca Mau without having to cross any ferry.

According to the PM, the launch indicates the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Japan . Over the past years, the Japanese government and people have given Vietnam significant support, including preferential ODA loans to help boost the country’s economy, especially by improving its infrastructure.

PM Dung praised the joint efforts of the Ministry of Transport, the My Thuan Project Management Unit, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the group of domestic and foreign contractors, including Taisei, Kajima and Nippon Steel of Japan.

He said he believes Vietnamese managers, engineers and workers will have great progresses after learning Japan ’s technology and experience during the bridge’s construction.

Also present at the inauguration were former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, former State President Le Duc Anh, Deputy PM Truong Vinh Trong, National Assembly Vice Chairman Uong Chu Lu, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Mitsuo Sakaba and local authorities.

On the same day, PM Dung also attended the inauguration of Ham Luong bridge in Ben Tre province.

Crossing over the Ham Luong river, the bridge links Ben Tre city with the four districts on Minh island – the home to over 600,000 people, including Mo Cay Nam , Mo Cay Bac, Cho Lach and Thanh Phu. Construction of the bridge was started in April 2007, with a total investment of nearly 787 billion VND sourced from the government bond.