S.Korea Firm Wins Deal for WB, Japan-funded Expressway in Central Vietnam

A consortium between two South Korean firms namely Dohwa Engineering Co., Ltd and Korea Expressway Corporation has won a contract worth VND42 billion ($2 million) to carry out a part of an expressway project in central Vietnam.Under the contract, the consortium will provide consultancy and supervision for the Danang-Quang Ngai expressway project jointly funded by the World Bank (WB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the next five years.This is the first contract of the VND28-trillion ($1.33 billion) project slated to be kick-started prior to May 10, 2013.The 140-kilometer expressway, the longest in central Vietnam, will link Danang City and Quang Ngai province and is expected to allow vehicles to travel at 100 km/hour-120km/hour. Poor infrastructure has handicapped the development in Vietnam, Yeong Heok Lee, a professor at Korea Aerospace University said, adding that Koreans are sharing their experiences with Vietnamese partners.Vietnam spends 10% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on its infrastructure development projects annually but infrastructure remains weak. (Dau Tu – Investment Feb 20 p2)