In June 1999, ADB approved a loan of $250 million to the PRC from its ordinary capital resources for the Southern Yunnan Road Development Project -- Loan 1691.

The principal objective of the project is to support the economic and social development in the southern part of Yunnan Province by reducing heavy congestion and improving safety on a key section of the existing road, National Highway 213. As a secondary objective, the Project will significantly contribute to poverty reduction by providing improved access to poor and disadvantaged communities in designated poverty counties and townships.

The Project will extend sector reforms initiated under previous ADB-financed investments, including:

commercializing expressway operations,
collecting sufficient toll revenues to ensure cost recovery,
enhancing highway design standards and construction quality, and
improving road safety.

A long-term objective of the project is to promote regional cooperation in the GMS by:

improving a section of the road link between Kunming in Yunnan Province of the PRC and Chiang Rai in Thailand -- GMS road project, R3: Chiang Rai-Kunming Road Improvement Project, and
initiating discussions to reach a multilateral cross-border agreement between countries along the Chiang Rai-Kunming road corridor.

The project scope includes:

constructing a new access-controlled toll expressway between Yuanjiang and Mohei in Yunnan Province, and
upgrading feeder roads in designated poverty areas in Yuanjian, Mojiang, and Pu'er counties.

The project comprises the following components:

Civil works for the:

construction of about 147 km of four-lane access-controlled toll expressway including nine interchanges, large and medium bridges totaling about 25,300 linear meters, tunnels totaling about 12,300 linear meters, and five service areas, and
upgrading of about 540 km of feeder roads

Procurement of equipment for traffic engineering and monitoring, toll collection, quality control, road maintenance and safety, tunnels, and feeder road upgrading
Land acquisition and resettlement, and
Consulting services for project management, construction supervision, training, and benefit monitoring and evaluation

Yunnan is a landlocked province, and is neighboring foreign countries. The road will facilitate access to its border and will thus stimulate international commerce and trade, which will contribute to regional development.

Project Cost and Financing ($ million)

	Foreign	Local	Total
ADB	250.0		250.0
Governments	93.1	472.2	520.3

Status

Ongoing.

For detailed information on project status, please email:

gms@adb.org