The project has been submitted by the latter to the Ministry of Transport for approval.
The expressway, to run from Phan Rang town in southern central NinhThuan province to National Highway 1A in southern central Binh Thuanprovince, will be 17 metres wide and have four lanes, allowing vehiclesto travel at up to 80km per hour.
It will cost over17.8 trillion VND (818 million USD), including 12.145 trillion VND (over557 million USD) for the construction alone.
Cuu LongCIPM has proposed dividing the project into two sub-projects, one a14.767 trillion VND BOT (build – operate – transfer) work and the other a3.066 billion VND segment to be funded by official developmentassistance (ODA).
This stretch of the Phan Thiet – Nha Trang Expressway is scheduled to open to traffic in 2021.
It is part of a 235km Nha Trang – Phan Thiet Expressway that will runfrom Khanh Hoa province's Dien Khanh district to the northern point ofthe Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway on National Highway 1A in BinhThuan province.
This section, which will have 97 bridges, is expected to cost 46 trillion VND (over 2.1 billion USD).
It will be the North – South Expressway running from Hanoi to the Mekong city of Can Tho.-VNA