ADB Lends $77.1 Million To Thai Government For Highway Expansion

The Asian Development Bank said Friday it has signed a $ 77.1 million loan agreement with the Thai government for a highway expansion project expected to be completed in the middle of 2014.

The conversion of the two-lane road into a four-lane highway in northern and central Thailand will support efforts to boost travel, tourism and trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion, the bank said in a statement. The subregion covers Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.

At the same time, the better road will reduce traffic accidents, it added. ADB's loan, from its ordinary capital resources, covers 43% of the total cost of $179.4 million for the highway expansion project, it said. Along with the loan, ADB is also administering $1 million of technical assistance, which will be used to lay the groundwork for an intercity road network that will link parts of eastern and central Thailand, it said.

Sourced=nasdaq