Finance & Funding

Chile’s highway development programme is crucial to the country’s future economic growth. That is the finding of a study by the OECD. According to the report, a 27% increase in highway development is required around Chile’s around cities and ports by 2030. This is because Chile's economy relies heavily on exports. However, a possible hold-up could come from delays facing key highway projects at present. In particular, delays due to environmental assessments are holding back progress with three transport lin

A Chinese contractor looks likely to be building sections of the Corridor 11 highway in Serbia. This follows successful discussions between Serbia and China. These relate to the sections of Corridor 11 from Preljina to Pozega and from Pozega to Boljare that lead towards the border with neighbouring Montenegro. Meanwhile discussions are also being held between Serbia and China with regard to the Ruma to Novi Sad highway, which is also known as the Fruskogorski Koridor. The works are expected to be worth €400

Kazakhstan has increased the budget used for upgrading highways and building new links in a bid to improve the country’s transport network. The Kazakhstan Government boosted the investment in the highway system for 2016 by 35% over the previous year, reaching close to US$852 million. The country’s road development programme saw 3,200km of routes being rebuilt and improved. Due to the heavy investment in road maintenance and upgrades the percentage of links rates as being in good condition rose from 44% to 4

Funding has been found for the new bridge that will connect Bangladesh with China. Called the Friendship Bridge, the project has been the subject of negotiations between the two countries. Funding worth US$83 million is being provided by China to pay for the construction of the new link, the ninth connecting the two countries. To date the construction of seven Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge links have been funded by China. The eighth bridge link is under construction at present and will span the Kocha R

Slovakia is reporting delays to works on the D1 motor, the country’s major east-west corridor and part of several pan-European routes, including the E50. The planned 2020 completion of the D1 motorway linking Bratislava - Kosice could be 2021. There are reported technical complications to the section between Lietavska Lucka - Dubna Skala stretch with the Visnove tunnel near Zilina is experiencing complications. Work by the consortium of OHL and Vahostav on the D1 stretch Hubova – Ivachvova is suspended due