Vietnam has held a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction work on a 188km expressway across the Mekong Delta in the south of the country, Vietnamnet reports.

The motorway will stretch from Chau Doc City on the Cambodian border to the South China Sea port of Tran De. It will have six lanes and its $1.9bn cost will be met by central and provincial governments.

The event was attended by Pham Minh Chinh, the prime minister of Vietnam. He said the expressway would be an axis connecting the region with the national expressway system. He added that the government was planning six expressways through the delta to link economic centres, international border gates and seaports.

The project is divided into four sub-projects, whose investment management agencies are the People’s Committees of Soc Trang, Hau Giang and An Giang provinces, and Can Tho City. The expressway is expected to be completed in 2026.