Addressing the ceremony in Can Gio district, Ho Chi MinhCity, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung Dung asked localities andcontractors to carry out the project on schedule with high quality.
The major project with a total length of 57.1 km is part of the national highway from North to South.
Theproject has an investment capital of 31.3 trillion VND (1.6 billion)for phase I. The investment includes loans of 636 million USD from theAsian Development Bank (ADB) and 635 million USD from Japan.
With four lanes, the road is designed for vehicles to run at a maximum speed of 100 kph.
Theroad includes a total of 20 km of bridges, including the almost3km-long Binh Khanh bridge spanning Soai Rap River and the 3.18 km-longPhuoc Khanh bridge crossing Long Tau River.
The road isexpected to facilitate transport between eastern and western parts ofsouthern Vietnam, helping to reduce traffic congestion on the currentNational Highway 1 in Ho Chi Minh Chi and National Highway 51 in DongNai.
The road will also link the network of highways andexpressways to major sea ports in the south such as Thi Vai–Cai Mep, SaoMai–Ben Dinh, and the planned Long Thanh international airport.
Oncebeing operational, the expressway will be part of the southern economiccorridor in the Great Sub-Mekong Region from Bangkok, Thailand, viaPhnom Penh, Cambodia, to Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau in Vietnam.-VNA