The World Bank (WB) on January 30 approved an additional credit of 156
million USD for an underway project to develop transport infrastructure
in the Mekong Delta.
The additional credit will be
used to improve waterway corridors and national roads that connect to
the region’s economic hub - Ho Chi Minh City.
The Mekong Delta Transport Infrastructure Development Project, approved
in May 2007 with the total investment of 306.7 million USD, aims to
reduce congestions at major traffic corridors in the region and improve
poor people’s access to these roads.
Once the
project is completed in 2015, it will reduce the time of transporting
rice by barge from Rach Gia to Ho Chi Minh City to five hours and
lorry travel time on National Road No. 91 by 10 percent.
As a result, fatalities caused by traffic accidents on National Road
No. 91 are expected to drop by 15 percent while the number of accidents
on local waterways will decrease by 5 percent./.