US$ 410 million for Vietnamese highway

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$ 410 million loan to support construction of a new arterial road in Vietnam.

The funds will help build sections of the Second Southern Highway, connecting Ho Chi Minh City in Southern Vietnam to the Mekong Delta and southern coastal regions.

Construction will include two cable-stayed bridges with a combined length of 5 km, as well as access and interconnecting roads totalling 26 km. The road will run on the boundaries of An Giang, Can Tho, and Dong Thap provinces to the west of the Mekong Delta Region.

The project is expected to cost a total of US$ 860 million. Additional funding will come in the form of an AU$ 160 million (US$ 143 million) grant from the Australian Agency for International Development, as well as US$ 260 million from the Export-Import Bank of Korea. The Government of Vietnam will contribute US$ 56 million towards the total.

“Vietnam has a rapidly growing export-led economy, and the Mekong Delta is a key economic driver which produces more than 60% of the country’s agricultural and fishery outputs and the third largest industrial centre,” Rustam Ishenaliev, transport Specialist in ADB’s Southeast Asia department said.

“This transport link will help open up Vietnam’s western provinces in the Mekong River Delta and support its economic and industrial development.”