The Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia is conducing the final steps to start work on a China-invested expressway close to Vietnam in June, Cambodian Minister Sun Chanthol told an inauguration ceremony of the Samrong Andeth vehicle testing center in Phnom Penh on Friday.

The expressway will link its capital city Phnom Penh and Bavet City in Svay Rieng Province bordering Tay Ninh Province in southern Vietnam.

The Phnom Penh - Bavet road will be the second expressway in Cambodia and is slated for completion in late 2026 or early 2027, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The road will be connected with Vietnam’s Moc Bai - Ho Chi Minh City Expressway, promising to facilitate exports between Cambodia and Vietnam and beef up trade activities in the Southeast Asian region.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will chair the groundbreaking ceremony of the expressway project, which will have a total length of 138 kilometers and cost VND37.6 trillion (US$1.6 billion).

The expressway, which will be 25.5 meters wide and have four lanes upon completion, will run through three Cambodian provinces, including Kandal, Prey Veng, and Svay Rieng.

The project will be funded by China Road and Bridge Corporation. The Chinese firm was also the investor of Cambodia’s first expressway, which is over 190 kilometers long and connects Phnom Penh with Preah Sihanouk Province.

The build-operate-transfer expressway project required nearly VND44.6 trillion ($1.9 billion) in investment.

The Phnom Penh - Preah Sihanouk Expressway was opened to traffic in October 2022.

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