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.