Saturday, 3 May 2008

Two more expressways for Mekong River Delta

The construction of HCM City - Trung Luong expressway is underway.


03/05/2008

VietNamNet Bridge – Backbone roads which are under construction and planned expressways will pave the way for the powerful development of the Mekong River Delta in the future.

Mekong River Delta – Phnom Penh expressway

The Vietnamese and Cambodian governments agreed to build a highway from Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta to Cambodia’s Phnom Penh capital. The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport has submitted this project to the government as part of the country’s expressway development strategy from now to 2030.According to the Transport Ministry, this road can be built by two sources of capital. The first is preferential and commercial loans guaranteed by the state, and the second is build-operate-transfer (BOT). The authorities of two related provinces, Can Tho and An Giang, have worked with the Transport Ministry and the Cambodian government on this project.

Tran Thanh Man, Chairman of Can Tho city, said this road will be 230km in length, including 110km from Can Tho to the Vietnam-Cambodia border in An Giang province. The remaining 120km will connect An Giang to Phnom Penh.

It is estimated that the capital for the first segment, from Can Tho to An Giang, is around $2.3 billion, and for the second section around $2.2 billion, totalling $4.5 billion. This road will link Can Tho with An Giang and the two provinces with Cambodia and facilitate economic development in this region.

Nguyen Tan Quyen, Party Secretary of Can Tho, said Can Tho and An Giang will negotiate with some American contractors in early June. The expressway will be 95m wide, with eight lanes. There will be modern residential areas, trade centres, etc. built along the road. This project will be kicked off in 2009.

My Thuan – Ca Mau highway

Officials of Can Tho and Kien Giang province have recently met to survey the field for the construction of the My Thuan – Ca Mau expressway, which will pass through the two provinces.

The My Thuan – Ca Mau road will be considered the second backbone of the Mekong River Delta after the existing National Highway 1. This backbone road will run from My Thuan Bridge in Tien Giang province to Tran Van Thoi district in Ca Mau province.

Nguyen Tan Quyen said the government has given the nod to this project. The road will have the total length of 160km. In the first phase, it will have six lanes and eight lanes in the second phase. The road is expected to serve 25,000 to 30,000 cars a day, which can run at the top speed of 120km per hour. The total investment in this project is estimated at $3.7 billion, using BOT mode of investment, including $3.2 billion for building the road and $500 million for the Can Tho 2 Bridge spanning the Hau River.

Le Minh Hoan, Vice Chairman of Dong Thap province, said this road will favour the development of an urban system of four provinces, Can Tho, Dong Thap, Kien Giang and Ca Mau, and help speed up the urbanisation process and economic development of this region.

(Source: TTCT)

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