ULAN BATOR, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday signed a deal worth 60 million U.S. dollars with the Mongolian government to help the country renovate its roads.
Mongolian Finance Minister Khurelbaatar Chimed and Yolanda Fernandez Lommen, ADB country director for Mongolia, signed the agreement at a ceremony in Ulan Bator.
The money will be earmarked for the renovation of 311 km of roads along the routes of Ulan Bator-Darkhan and Darkhan-Altanbulag, crucial parts in Mongolia's road corridor sections that link with China and Russia, Khurelbaatar said.
The renovation work will begin later this year, he added.
The 27-year loan will have an interest rate of 0.6 percent and principle payments will be waived during the four years, he said.
"Road development is very important for any country's socio-economic development. Having good and safe roads will create many good opportunities for the economy through trade and tourism," Lommen said.
According to Mongolia's Ministry of Road and Transport Development, the East Asian country with a total land area of 1,564,116 square km has a road network of about 50,000 km, but less than 15 percent has been paved.
Over the past 25 years, the ADB has implemented about 280 projects and programs in Mongolia involving a total of 1.9 billion dollars in fields such as health, social protection, infrastructure and urban planning, the ministry said.