Hanoi, Sep 21 (IANS): Vietnam's longest expressway connecting Noi Bai in capital Hanoi and the north-western Lao Cai province, bordering China, with a total length of 245 km, officially opened to traffic Sunday.

The Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway that runs from Noi Bai through the provinces of Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Yen Bai to Lao Cai was completed in five years with a total investment of over $1.46 billion, including around $1 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Xinhua reported.

ADB country director for Vietnam, Tomoyuki Kimura said at the opening ceremony held in Lao Cai province Sunday that with the completion of the project, the travel time between Hanoi and Lao Cai will be reduced significantly from 10-12 hours to 3-4 hours.

In addition to the project's significant impact on Vietnam's national development, it is one of ADB' key projects in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) programme.

"We believed that the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway will contribute to further facilitating bilateral trade between Vietnam and China and turning the existing GMS transport corridor into a real economic corridor," said the ADB official.

The project is also an inseparable section of the GMS north-south economic corridor along China's Kunming to Vietnam's capital Hanoi and seaport city Hai Phong. It will also be connected with Kunming expressway in China, Kimura said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway is of great significance to the socio-economy, defence and security not only for the provinces through which it runs, but also for the north-western region and the whole country, as well as for cooperation among GMS countries, including Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.