Billion-Dollar Highway Links Vietnam To China

December 16, 2007 2:18 p.m. EST

Hanoi, Vietnam (AHN) - A billion-dollar highway will soon stretch from suburban Hanoi to Lao Cai on Vietnam's border with China.

The construction of the $1.1 billion, 151-mile (244-kilometer) highway will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It is the biggest single project financing in ADB's history.

When the highway opens in 2012, travel time from Hanoi to Kunming, China, will take less than a day compared to the two-day trip now.

The reduced travel time will allow industries clustered around Hanoi and Viet Nam's major port city Hai Phong to expand into the country's impoverished northwest region, increasing employment opportunities and social service access for communities along the highway corridor, the ADB said.

The new highway will increase agricultural and maritime exports to Yunnan province and the rest of southwestern China.

Vietnam's Hai Phong and Cai Lan ports are also closer to Kunming than Fangcheng port in China's Guangxi Province.

Over 5.5 million vehicles are expected to use the corridor in 2012, a number expected to increase more than three-fold to 17 million by 2022.

The entire loan is expected to be paid within 10 years from the time the highway opens.