The Ministry of Construction said it will spend around USD 960 million on upgrading the 524-kilometre Yangon-Mandalay highway, as reported by Frontier.

The first phase of the upgrade, the 64 kilometre section between Yangon and Bago, will cost USD 57 million and will come from a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). A South Korean company, Yooshin Engineering Corporation, will draft plans for the upgrade. The ministry is expected to spend about USD 900 million to upgrade the remaining 459 kilometres between Bago and Mandalay, the timeline remains unknown though.

The Yangon-Mandalay highway is a part of the Asian Highway network that will link China and India and also Thailand and Vietnam, the ADB said.