Cambodia and Vietnam last week held talks on the construction of a motorway between Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam.
The project was discussed by Sun Chanthol, Cambodia’s transport minister and his Vietnamese opposite number Truong Quang Nghia.
A spokesperson for Cambodia’s Transport Ministry said the Cambodian government had spent a year considering a project to build a 167km toll road, which would connect the two cities through Bavet City.
Mr Chanthol said the road could carry up to $5bn worth of trade a year and increase the number of tourists for both countries, local media reported.
Currently, the shortest route between the two cities is about 232km.
The cost of the road was not given, however in 2014, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency discussed plans for a highway between Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City that would halve travel time and cost $2.2bn.
A study carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport estimates that Cambodia will need 850km of new motorways by 2020 at a cost of $9bn, and 2,230km by 2040 at a cost of $26bn.
Last year, Vietnamese newspaper Tuoi Tre said Vietnam was considering building a $700m expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Tay Ninh province
Separately, Beijing-based China Road and Bridge Corporation plans an expressway linking Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanouk province.
Image: The meeting between Sun Chanthol (right) and Truong Quang Nghia (Cambodia Transport Ministry)
