Illustrative image. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has approved the investment plan for the Đồng Đăng-Trà Lĩnh Expressway under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The People’s Committee of Cao Bằng is assigned to sign the contract with the investor of the project.

The expressway, which is 115km in length, connects the northern mountainous provinces of Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng. It will have four lanes and allow vehicles to travel at speeds of up to 80km per hour.

The total investment for the project is estimated at nearly VNĐ21 trillion (US$895.75 million). It is divided into two phases. 

The first phase, which will be carried out in 2020-24, will connect the Tân Thanh border gate in Lạng Sơn Province to Phúc Sen Commune in Cao Bằng Province’s Quảng Hòa District. The second phase, which will be implemented after 2025, will be from Quảng Hòa District to the Trà Lĩnh border gate in Cao Bằng Province.

Toll collection on the entire expressway and toll collection on the route connecting Cao Bằng City will be used to recover the project’s investment capital.

The project is expected to boost socio-economic development in the two provinces and ensure national defence and security, as well as the country’s border sovereignty.

It also serves as a new route facilitating transportation of goods from Lạch Huyện International Port (Hải Phòng) to Chongqing-Urumqi (China)-Khorgos city (Kazakhstan) to European countries. — VNS