Vietnam Ministry Seeks $1B from WB Funds for Expressway in Central

The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport has proposed the Ministry of Planning and Investment to add Nghi Son-Bai Vot expressway into a list which will get loans from the World Bank (WB) in 2012-2014. The MoT expects to get a loan of $1 billion for the 94.1-kilometer highway, which will link Nghi Son in Thanh Hoa province and Bai Vot in Ha Tinh province, the Dau tu newspaper reported Aug 15.  Under a proposal by consultant Road and Bridge Engineering Consultants JSC (TEDI), the expressway will have between four and six lanes and allow vehicles to travel at 120 km/hour.  Nghi Son-Bai Vot expressway is a part of North-South expressway project approved by the prime minister. The Southeast Asian country needs $16 billion for infrastructure transport projects a year; however, it can afford half of that figure. (Dau tu – Investment Aug 15 p2)