The 130-kilometer-long highway would connect the two Mekong Delta cities by 2025.

VnExpress reports that Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has ordered the Ministry of Transport to research a four-lane expressway between Can Tho and Ca Mau, a project that would improve connectivity in a region notorious for slow road travel.

The highway would consist of two phases, one from Can Tho to Bac Lieu Province using public funds, and the second continuing on to Ca Mau through a public-private partnership (PPP). Previous estimates have placed the cost for the highway at US$2 billion.

Once completed, the high-speed road would connect to the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway, work on which is expected to begin this November. Meanwhile, the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway in Tien Giang Province is expected to open by the end of this year, enabling high-speed road access from Saigon to Tien Giang.

These linkages will dramatically improve access from Saigon to the Mekong Delta, which is currently hampered by ferry crossings and congestion-prone bridges. 

Elsewhere in the region, the 51-kilometer-long Lo Te-Rach Soi Expressway from Can Tho to Kien Giang Province is scheduled to open to traffic next month.

[Photo: A ring road-expressway intersection in Hanoi/Dan Sinh]