US Cos To Build $1.8 Billion Highway Linking Vietnam Cambodia

HANOI -(Dow Jones)- Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities are working to allow U.S companies to build a $1.8-billion highway linking the two cities of Can Tho and Phnom Penh over the next two years, a local government official said Tuesday.

Vietnam's First Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has given the approval for authorities to work on the 110-kilometer highway linking Vietnam's Can Tho with the historic city of Phnom Penh, Le Tan Hoc, director of Can Tho city's transport department, said.

Global Ventures and KG America will bid to build under a build-operate- transfer model, the official told Dow Jones Newswires.

Under the model, investors build infrastructure, run it for a given period of time and then hand it over to the government.

Hoc said the highway is expected to have six lanes with a total width of 35 meters.

"Vietnam and Cambodia support this project, which will help boost trade in the region," Hoc said.

-By Nguyen Pham Muoi, Hanoi Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 844-8250732; phammuoi.nguyen@dowjones.com