Construction work on the Van Ban - Bao Yen section of the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway project started in Van Ban district of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai on Dec. 20.

The 26.7km road passing through Van Ban and Bao Yen districts is designed with the minimum design speed of 80km/h.

It will have four lanes and 18 bridges with a total length of 1,963m.

The 1.6 trillion VND building package will be carried out by China’s Guangzhou Bridges and Roads Construction Ltd. Co.

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Ngo Duc Thinh emphasised the importance of the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway, which is part of the Kunming - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong corridor under the cooperation programme of six Mekong sub-regional countries.

Once completed, the expressway will help halve the travelling time from Hanoi to Lao Cai and vice versa and will be a step further in realising the agreement between Governments of Vietnam and China on development of “two corridors and one key economic belt”./.