Mekong Delta province to widen roads leading to HCMC at $1.3 billion

Of the money, 61.2 percent will come from its budget and the rest from private investors. Investment procedures are expected to start in the first quarter.

"The upgrades to the roads will facilitate the economic development of Long An and boost connectivity between key economic areas in the province and international ports in Long An and HCMC," Nguyen Hoai Trung, deputy director of its Department of Transport, said on Monday.

They include a 6.2-km (3.85-mile) road running from the Vam Co Dong River in Long An’s Ben Luc District to the HCMC border and a 12.8-km road from Provincial Road 830 to Tan Buu Bridge close to the city border, whose expansion will be funded by private investors.

Another major road is one of 22 km running through the province's Duc Hoa District.

An intersection in Tan An Town in Long An will be renovated to enable vehicles to access the HCMC-Trung Luong expressway, currently the only connecting the city with the Mekong Delta.

It was extended recently in the delta.

The government has also approved the construction of a 740-km coastal road along the length of the Mekong Delta to HCMC.

It will start in HCMC and go up to Ha Tien Town in Kien Giang through the provinces of Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau.

Lawmakers and officials have been lamenting for years that infrastructure connectivity between Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta is badly lacking and proving to be a development bottleneck.

The government is also planning seven major expressways running 1,000 km in the delta at a cost of VND150 trillion ($6.49 billion).