Star
Cruises will play its part for Halong Bay tourism with the launch of a Saturday
cruise for 500-800 tourists from the end of November to March . According to the
company around 4,000 foreign tourists visit Halong Bay by sea every week
and the area is expected to receive 2.5 million visitors this year.
New
restaurant opens in Bagan
A new
Thai Restaurant called Kinnaree has opened in Bagan near Nyaung Oo Airport. Well
decorated with traditional Thai and Myanmar mix décor Kinnaree has an open air
dining capacity of 50 persons and two air-conditioned rooms which can
accommodate 15 persons each. The restaurant is especially recommended for
tourists staying a couple of days in Bagan and wanting to try some alternative
Asian cuisine.
Song
Da to drive Ngang Pass tunnel project
A
Build Operate Transfer (BOT) contract to build a tunnel crossing Ngang Pass was
signed in November between the Ministry of Transport and the Song Da
Corporation.
This
is the first such tunnel to be built by domestic companies. The tunnel is to be
located on National Highway 1A, linking Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provices with a
total length of 2,844 metres. The project consists of three sections: the main
tunnel section is 495 metres long, 11.5 metres wide and 7.5 metres high, the
bridge section contains two bridges, one north and another south of the tunnel,
and the road section is 2,114 metres long.
Infrastructure
for the project includes a parking lot, management centre, fee collection
station, power and water supply. According to a source from the Ministry of
Transport, a total of $10 million equivalent is to be invested in the project,
of which 30 per cent will come from the Song Da Corporation. The rest would be
in loans from local bankers.
Construction
on the Ngang Pass is scheduled to start early in 2003 and finish within two
years.
