Vietnam Breaks Ground on Expressway to Connect Vientiane

This Week

On 18 May, Vietnam began the construction of a 60-kilometer Expressway section in Nghe An Province connecting to the Laos border, in a long-planned corridor that will connect the capitals of two Southeast Asian nations. 

According to Vietnamese media, the Vinh–Thanh Thuy section runs from the Hung Tay interchange in Nghe An to the Thanh Thuy-Nam On border gate in Xaychamphhone district, Bolikhamxay Province, Laos. 

Costing USD 910 million and due for completion by 2029, the four-lane road is being built by a consortium led by Deo Ca Group, with the possibility of future expansion to six lanes.

The project forms part of a broader corridor agreed upon by the Vietnamese and Lao governments in 2016 to link the two capitals. 

On the Vietnamese side, the roughly 310-kilometer Hanoi-Vinh section, which largely overlaps the existing North-South Expressway, will connect with the new Vinh-Thanh Thuy stretch, bringing Vietnam’s total contribution to around 370 kilometers. 

The corridor offers Laos faster overland access to Vietnamese seaports, while giving Vietnam deeper trade, tourism, and logistics ties with its neighbors across the Mekong region. 

On the Lao side, a 203.8-kilometer stretch from Paksan district to the Vietnamese border spanning four districts including Paksan, Bolikhan, Viengthong, and Xaychamphone, has reached over 30 percent completion as of May. 

This section connects to a planned 126-kilometer stretch from Vientiane Capital to Paksan running parallel to National Road No. 13 South. 

The Lao government signed a USD 1.9 billion concession agreement with three private companies in October 2025, targeting completion by 2030.

In total, the Vientiane-Hanoi Expressway spans about 700 kilometers and represents a combined investment of over USD 2.8 billion across both countries.

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