At present, road connectivity is maintained via the Moc Bai (Vietnam) – Bavet (Cambodia) international border gate pair, with National Highway 22 on the Vietnamese side and National Road 1 on the Cambodian side.

Both countries have separately developed plans for expressways linking Ho Chi Minh City to Moc Bai and Phnom Penh to Bavet.

The HCMC–Moc Bai Expressway, nearly 51 kilometres long, will begin at Ring Road 3 in Ho Chi Minh City and end at National Highway 22, approximately five kilometres from Moc Bai border gate. The project has been approved under a public–private partnership (PPP) model in the form of a build–operate–transfer (BOT) contract, with the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee acting as the authorised state agency.

On the Cambodian side, the 135-kilometre Phnom Penh–Bavet Expressway is also being developed under a PPP model and broke ground in June 2023. The final section of the Cambodian expressway currently stops about 15 kilometres from the border, pending agreement on the connection point with Vietnam.

In 2017, Vietnam’s then Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) and Cambodia’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport signed a memorandum of understanding acknowledging the results of a Cambodian-side feasibility study funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The study proposed a connection point near border marker 164, subject to consideration and approval by both governments.

Following field surveys and assessments comparing connection options near border markers 170 and 164, the Tay Ninh provincial People’s Committee proposed a two-phase connection plan.

In the initial phase, the expressways would connect via the existing Moc Bai–Bavet international border gates in order to maximise the efficiency of the HCMC–Moc Bai Expressway currently under development. This approach would also leverage existing border infrastructure to ensure stable cross-border transport and trade flows in the short term.

In the second phase, the Ministry of Construction expressed support for a connection near border marker 170, aligned with the cargo clearance route of the Moc Bai–Bavet border gate pair. The ministry noted that this option is consistent with planning frameworks and infrastructure conditions and has received in-principle backing from relevant ministries and local authorities.

The ministry has recommended that the Prime Minister approve the two-phase roadmap and direct relevant ministries, sectors and localities to continue completing technical, legal and diplomatic procedures in accordance with regulations.

According to the ministry, the implementation should follow an appropriate timeline, based on the completion of legal frameworks for cargo clearance routes, consensus with Cambodia and approval by competent authorities. The option of connecting near border marker 164 is not being considered at this stage.

Government leader call for greater efforts to finalize 5,000km of expressways by 2030

VOV.VN - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, head of the State Steering Committee for key national transport projects, chaired the committee’s 23rd meeting at the Government Headquarters in Hanoi on January 30.