Cambodia’ transport minister Sun Chanthol said work on a $1.6bn motorway running from the capital Phnom Penh southeast to the border with Vietnam will start in June next year, Xinhua reports.

The plan is to build the 138km road to the Cambodian border town of Bavet, which neighbours Vietnam’s Moc Bai. It will follow the route of the two-lane National Highway 1 (pictured).

At the same time, Vietnam will build a motorway between Moc Ba and Ho Chi Minh City. Chanthol said the two projects would be completed in early 2027.

The road will be Cambodia’s second modern motorway and, like the first, it will be built by China Road and Bridge (CRBC), a subsidiary of China Communications.

In 2022, Cambodia completed its first expressway, which runs between Phnom Penh and the port city of Preah Sihanouk. This 190km road cost $1.8bn and was financed by CRBC in return for a 50-year franchise.