A ministry official told on Thursday (28 May 2009) that VEC and the Korean partner would start negotiations over cooperation terms and conditions before signing an agreement, which will likely be signed in Vietnam this year. The expressway stretching some 200km or so will be funded by the Asian Development Bank.

The official said that deputy transport minister Ngo Thinh Duc in a meeting in April with VEC, the Korean company, two other Korean builders, relevant bodies and Lam Dong Province authorities agreed to choose Incheon Urban Development Corporation as a potential contractor for the road project.

According to the ministry, relevant local agencies will assist Incheon Urban Development Corporation to garner information about the project. The company, however, is required to prove its financial capacity before the ministry reports the case to the Government.

The cost for the expressway is estimated at more than US$1 billion. When completed, the expressway will be part of the trans-Asia road, linking the Central Highlands with the central coastal and southeastern regions and the economic corridor linking countries in the Mekong Sub-region.

Last year, a 19-km expressway linking Duc Trong township of Lam Dong Province with Prenn Pass in Dalat City was opened to traffic. The road was built in four years at a cost of VND993 billion, or US$58 million, and has become an important section in the Lien Khuong-Dau Giay expressway project.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai in a recent meeting urged the transport ministry to speed up the preparation work on another southern expressway, linking HCMC with Dau Giay T-junction. Construction on this expressway should begin next month.

When the 55-km HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay road is completed, it together with Lien Khuong-Dau Giay expressway will make another trunk road from HCMC to the Central Highlands.