The funding aims to promote the development of trade, insurance and other fields.

According to the NIKKEI daily newspaper, the project is part of a plan revealed by Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in April 2009 in order to double the regional GDP in 2020.

Under the project, a joint research team between Japan and Thailand will be established to create a legal and financial framework for the scheme.

The highway starting in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam will run through Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, and Thailand’s capital Bangkok, and end at the Andaman coast in the Southeastern part of Thailand.