HA NOI (VNS) — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended a ceremony yesterday to start construction work on a new highway connecting the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Bac Kan, as well as the upgrade and expansion of a section of National Highway 3 under a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) contract.
Both projects have a combined investment of nearly VND2.7 trillion (US$137 million), and will help reduce traffic congestion and accidents on the current National Highway 3.
They will also connect northern mountainous provinces with Ha Noi, serving socio-economy development and national security in the northern mountainous region.
Addressing the ceremony, PM Dung said the BOT investment in the two projects were in line with the Party's policy of raising capital from all possible sources to invest in socio-economic infrastructure, particularly roads.
The PM also asked provincial leaders from Thai Nguyen and Bac Kan to make concerted efforts to resettle citizens who were relocated for the new roads.
The new Thai Nguyen-Bac Kan highway will stretch 40km, and will be completed in early 2016
