Vietnam and Cambodia will start the construction of Chrey Thom bridge on January 14 to meet the increasing need for transport and trade between the two countries, said the Cambodian Ministry of Public Works and Transport on December 24. Located about 75 km from Phnom Penh, the 428-metre bridge linking Cambodia’s Kandal province with Vietnam’s An Giang province, is hoped to facilitate trade between Vietnam’s Mekong Delta and the capital city. Over the past years, two-way trade has increased at a steady annual growth of 30 percent. In the January-October period, their trade turnover reached US$2.94 billion and is projected to climb to US$3.5 billion by the year’s end and about US$5 billion by 2015. Vietnam consistently takes the lead in the number of foreign arrivals to Cambodia with an average annual rise of 30 percent.