Vietnam’s Minister of Transport has asked the Projects Management Unit 2 to accelerate construction of the Hanoi-Thai Nguyen expressway and finish it in Sept, the Dau tu newspaper reported. Construction of the 61.3-kilometer expressway which is designed to have six lanes to allow vehicles to travel at 100 km per hour was kicked off at end-2009. This strategic project aims to improve Vietnam’s transport system, replace former highway No 3 and boost economic exchanges between Hanoi and the northern mountainous areas surrounding Thai Nguyen. The joint venture contractors Civil Construction Engineering Corp (Cienco) No. 8, Truong Son General Construction Corp (TSC) and Vietnam Construction and Import-Export JS Corp (VINACONEX) won the tender to implement the project. The Hanoi-Thai Nguyen expressway project requires a total of VND9.15 trillion, the majority of which comes from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (Dau Tu Aug 8 p2)
