Thailand-Nambodia-Vietnam: The Indochinese Federation Coastal Highway?

Print PM breaks ground for coastal highway

May, 16 2011
VNS (Hanoi)

KIEN GIANG — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung last Saturday broke ground for the Rach Gia Bypass and Minh Luong – Thu Bay Road, both part of the Viet Nam section of the Southern Coastal Corridor, which also passes through Thailand and Cambodia. 

Officials from the Ministry of Transport, Kien Giang Province, and the My Thuan Project Management Unit, the builder, attended the ceremony held in Binh An Commune in Kien Giang's Chau Thanh District.

The 20.8-km Rach Gia Bypass will have 22 bridges and the Rach Gia and Cai San intersections.

The 22.8-km Minh Luong – Thu Bay Road will have the Cai Lon and Cai Be Bridges in Binh An Commune and 10 other smaller bridges.

They will be completed in 36 months.

The corridor will run along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand from Bangkok, entering Viet Nam at the Xa Xia Border Gate and going to Ca Mau city.

The 217-km Viet Nam section will cost US$398 million to build, with the funds to come from ODA loans from South Korea, concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank, a grant from the Australian Government, and counter-capital from the Vietnamese Government, according to the My Thuan PMU.

It would provide an impetus for socio-economic development of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta in Viet Nam, it added.

The corridor would improve connectivity and promote cross-border transport between Thailand, Cambodia, and Viet Nam, Paul J. Vallely, Senior Transport Specialist in the ADB's Mekong Department, said.

"It will foster economic and social integration, and support increased trade and investment in the Southern Economic Corridor."