PHNOM PENH, March 19 (NNN-VNS) -- The 70-km long Highway 78 stretching from Banlung Town in Cambodia's Ratanakiri Province to the Le Thanh border gate in Viet Nam's Central Highland Gia Lai Province opened to traffic Thursday.

Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen cut the ribbon to inaugurate the highway which cost US$25.8 million to upgrade and was paid for by the Vietnamese Government's preferential credits.

Speaking at the inauguration, Trong put emphasis on the highway's significance, saying it was an important strategic infrastructure work designated to serve socio-economic development and contribute to ensure security, and national defence between Viet Nam and Cambodia.

The highway would also benefit the Laos-Viet Nam-Cambodia development triangle as it had created an additional East-West corridor connecting Cambodia's Ratanakiri Province with the Central Highlands and central provinces in Viet Nam, Trong said.

He also hailed the highway as a symbol of Vietnamese-Cambodian relations. -- NNN-VNS