Works Minister S Samy Vellu, who is on a three-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, today held talks with several leaders of the Balkan state in Sarajevo on the proposed RM14.3 billion expressway project.

The project is part of the Corridor Vc Motorway that would connect Budapest in Hungary to Ploce in Croatia, through Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The total length of the motorway is 667km, out of which 220km was in Hungary, 110 km in Croatia and the longest stretch of 312km in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Bernama , Samy Vellu held discussions with Dr Ahmed Hadzipasic, Prime Minister of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina and Adnan Terzic, Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

He also held talks with Nedzad Brankovic, Federal Minister of Transport and Communications and Branko Dokic, Minister of Communications and Transport.

Infrastructure development

During the meetings, Samy Vellu expressed Malaysian contractors' interest in the 312km stretch of the expressway in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Bosnian stretch is divided into four main sections namely Lot 1 (section between Svilaj and Doboj South (Karuse) around 63 km), Lot 2 (section between Doboj South (Karuse) and Sarajevo South (Tarcin) around 147 km), Lot 3 (section Sarajevo South (Tarcin) - Mostar North around 62 km), and Lot 4 (section Mostar North-border South around 44km).

Besides the meetings, Samy Vellu also visited the portion of the alignment of the expressway.

The minister was quoted as saying that he had gained an insight and better understanding on the expressway project, from which future actions could be decided.

He said there was a need for a detailed study to be carried out, both technical and commercial, and also further discussions at the ministerial level.

Besides the expressway project, Samy Vellu also explored other opportunities with the hope of paving the way for ventures in other scopes of infrastructure development in Bosnia and Herzegovina.