REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS - Another Bridge Crossing Mekong To Link China-Bangkok

bernama.com.my, June 21, 2007

A bridge crossing the Mekong River at Chiang Khong in northern Thailand and Houayxay in Laos will be completed in 2011 to connect the south-western province of China directly to Bangkok by road. Asian Development Bank (ADB) vice-president C. Lawrence Greenwood Jr said that the agreement to build the bridge was reached during the three-day 14th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Ministerial Conference which ended in Manila today. He said in a statement that the bridge, to be financed by the governments of China and Thailand, would be the final link in a north-south road system through the Mekong region under development by nations in the area and the ADB for more than a decade."When this vital bridge is completed, it will be possible for the first time to travel by land directly from Yunnan, China, through Laos to Thailand, opening up tremendous potential for increased trade, tourism, and further integration of the Mekong region," he said.

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