$13.2 million to upgrade National Highway 22B

TÂY NINH – The Ministry of Transport has approved a plan to upgrade an 80-km section of National Highway 22B in the southeastern province of Tây Ninh, according to the province’s Department of Transport.

Nguyễn Tấn Tài, director of the Transport Department, said the VNĐ300 billion (US$13.2 million) project would be divided into three stages.

In the first stage, which starts later this year, 33km of the highway, extending from the Asian Highway three-way crossroads in Gò Dầu District to Tây Ninh City’s Bình Minh Commune, will be upgraded.

The second stage, which starts in 2018, will focus on the next 25km to Tân Biên District.

The last 22km of the project, which runs through the Xa Mát international border gate in Tân Biên District, will be completed in 2019.

National Highway 22B is critical to Tây Ninh because it is the gateway from HCM City to the Việt Nam-Cambodia border.

The highway was upgraded 10 years ago by the Ministry of Transport, but is now in poor condition in certain sections.

Initially, National Highway 22B was set to be invested as a BOT (build-operate-transfer) project. However, at a meeting last year with Tây Ninh Province’s authorities, Minister of Transport Trương Quang Nghĩa decided to use funds from the state budget. — VNS