PM attends ground-breaking of Lang Son - Cao Bang expressway

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 1 attended a ground-breaking ceremony of the first phase of a project to build an expressway connecting the two northwestern border provinces of Lang Son and Cao Bang.

The 121km expressway will have four tunnels through the mountains and several bridges over valleys, and its total investment for the two phases will be nearly 23 trillion VND (947.6 million USD).

The first phase has a length of 93.35km, with the starting point at Tan Thanh border gate intersection, Van Lang district, Lang Son province, and the ending point at National Highway 3 intersection in Chi Thao commune, Quang Hoa district, Cao Bang province. Total investment forthis phase is 14.3 trillion VND, and the implementation period is 36 months.

The 17m-wide road will allow vehicles to travel at a speed of 80kmph.

PM Chinh said that this is the biggest transport infrastructure project invested in Cao Bang province to date.

The project will help boost socio-economic development, and national defence and security, maintain national border sovereignty, and create a new vital international expressway for goods trading from Lach Huyen International Port (Hai Phong) to Chongqing - Urumqi (China) - Khorgos (Kazakhstan) and then to European countries, thus contributing to increasing the competitiveness of the economy, and motivating socio-economic development of Cao Bang, Lang Son and the entire northeastern region, he stressed.

On the same day, PM Chinh visited and presented gifts to workers of Cao Bang Cast Iron and Steel Factory in Chu Trinh commune, Cao Bang city.

VNA