Construction of the 220km Vietnamese segment of a transnational highway linking the greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) will begin in the second quarter of the year, says Duong Tuan Minh, general director of the My Thuan Project Management Unit.
The 1,000-km highway will run from Bangkok city in Thailand , pass the border town of Kok Kong town and Sihanoukville city in Cambodia and reach the Vietnamese border town of Ha Tien in Kien Giang province before ending at Ca Mau province, where it meets the country’s National Highway 1A.
Its section in Thailand has been built and just 34 kilometres in the Cambodian section remain to be completed.
Vietnam ’s 220-km section, which runs on the western coast of the Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta and is expected to be completed at the end of 2013, will need an investment of about 500 million USD, Minh said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will loan Vietnam 75 million USD for the first phase of the project, which cost 390 million USD. The remaining capital will be sourced through a 25 million USD ODA loan from Australia and a preferential loan of 134 million USD from the Republic of Korea . Vietnam will use its contingency cost for site clearance. The second phase of the project is also expected to receive capital assistance from ADB fund.
Experts have said the highway will enhance the socio-economic development of not only the provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau, but also the adjacent provinces of Can Tho, An Giang, Bac Lieu and Soc Trang.
Authorities in Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces are carrying out site clearance works for the construction of the highway, which ADB country director in Vietnam , Ayumi Konishi, has called a corridor that will open up opportunities for cooperation and development./.
The 1,000-km highway will run from Bangkok city in Thailand , pass the border town of Kok Kong town and Sihanoukville city in Cambodia and reach the Vietnamese border town of Ha Tien in Kien Giang province before ending at Ca Mau province, where it meets the country’s National Highway 1A.
Its section in Thailand has been built and just 34 kilometres in the Cambodian section remain to be completed.
Vietnam ’s 220-km section, which runs on the western coast of the Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta and is expected to be completed at the end of 2013, will need an investment of about 500 million USD, Minh said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will loan Vietnam 75 million USD for the first phase of the project, which cost 390 million USD. The remaining capital will be sourced through a 25 million USD ODA loan from Australia and a preferential loan of 134 million USD from the Republic of Korea . Vietnam will use its contingency cost for site clearance. The second phase of the project is also expected to receive capital assistance from ADB fund.
Experts have said the highway will enhance the socio-economic development of not only the provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau, but also the adjacent provinces of Can Tho, An Giang, Bac Lieu and Soc Trang.
Authorities in Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces are carrying out site clearance works for the construction of the highway, which ADB country director in Vietnam , Ayumi Konishi, has called a corridor that will open up opportunities for cooperation and development./.
