The 1,000-km highway will run from Bangkok city in Thailand , pass theborder town of Kok Kong town and Sihanoukville city in Cambodia and reach theVietnamese border town of Ha Tien in Kien Giang province before ending at Ca Mauprovince, where it meets the country’s National Highway 1A.
Its sectionin Thailand has been built and just 34 kilometres in the Cambodian sectionremain to be completed.
Vietnam ’s 220-km section, which runs on thewestern coast of the Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta and is expected to be completedat 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 forthe first phase of the project, which cost 390 million USD. The remainingcapital will be sourced through a 25 million USD ODA loan from Australia and apreferential loan of 134 million USD from the Republic of Korea . Vietnam willuse its contingency cost for site clearance. The second phase of the project isalso expected to receive capital assistance from ADB fund.
Experts havesaid the highway will enhance the socio-economic development of not only theprovinces 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 Mauprovinces are carrying out site clearance works for the construction of thehighway, which ADB country director in Vietnam , Ayumi Konishi, has called acorridor that will open up opportunities for cooperation and development./.