ADB aids Vietnam, Cambodia

ADB aids Vietnam, Cambodia

HANOI (Reuters): The Asian Development Bank on Saturday signed an agreement to lend Vietnam and Cambodia US$140 million to upgrade a highway joining southern Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh, a senior official said.

Peter Sullivan, vice president for the ADB's eastern region, said the upgrade would result in a four-lane highway on the Vietnamese side and two lanes in Cambodia.

The loan comprised $100 million for Vietnam and $40 million for Cambodia, Sullivan told Reuters at the end of a meeting of finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Hanoi.

Traffic and trade flows between the two countries would be boosted by upgrading of the 240 km (150 mile) artery from Vietnam's former Saigon to the Cambodian capital, the Manila- based ADB said in a statement.

Officials said upgrading work should begin in the second half of the year.

Many highways and roads in Indochina have been devastated by decades of war and neglect.