The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport said on Wednesday that it had given its nod to an investment of over VND3.9 trillion (US$159.2 million) for a Ho Chi Minh road section passing two Mekong Delta provinces of Kien Giang and Bac Lieu with a total length of some 52 kilometers.

The section in Kien Giang will be over 45 kilometers long and the section passing through Bac Lieu is some 6.6 kilometers long.

The road section will have two lanes in the first phase and will later expanded to four lanes. It will have a designed speed of 80 kilometers per hour in both phases.

The capital, planned to be sourced from the state budget, will be allocated until 2030.

The amount includes more than VND538 billion ($22 million) for site clearance and resettlement, some VND2.8 trillion ($114.4 million) for construction, over VND24 billion ($1 million) for project management, around VND131 billion ($5.4 million) for investment and construction consultancy, and VND299 billion ($12.2 million) for backup.

The project will last until 2025.

Some VND3.1 trillion ($126.6 million) will be allocated for the project in the 2021-25 period and VND780 billion ($31.9 million) in 2026-30.

The project received VND757 billion ($30.9 million) last year.

The Ministry of Transport assigned the Ho Chi Minh road project management board to produce, appraise and approve a design for the road sections in Kien Giang and Bac Lieu Provinces and choose contractors.

Ho Chi Minh Road runs over 2,700 kilometers from northern Cao Bang Province to Ca Mau Province, the southern tip of Vietnam.

According to a resolution of the lawmaking National Assembly, the road should have been completed by 2020. However, nearly 2,400 kilometers of the road and 258 kilometer of bypasses had been developed as of mid-2022.

Another 211-kilometer section of the road is under construction, while 171 kilometers, which needs around VND10.7 trillion ($436.6 million), has yet to be developed.

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