Extensive construction work to build and pave roads in Cambodia’s northeast includes plans to build a bridge across the Sre Pok River to connect Ratanakkiri and Mondolkiri provinces, according to provincial officials. The feasibility and environmental impact are still being studied for a $3 million bridge to be built along National Road 76 across the Sre Pok River in Ratanakkiri’s Lumphat district that will connect with Mondolkiri’s Koh Nheak district, according to So Samnang, Director of the Provincial Public Works and Transportation department. He said the bridge, which would be built by the Chinese company China Road Bridge Corporation, was part of plans to make the region’s roads more accessible for tourists and to improve the transportation of agricultural products. "If the road construction is finished, it will attract many more tourists to Ratanakkiri from Vietnam," he said. Vietnam, according to Tourism Ministry statistics, has been the foremost source of tourists to Cambodia so far this year. Overall, So Samnang said, about 70 km of National Road 78 between the provincial capital of Banlung and the Vietnam border is being paved in work paid for by a $20 million loan from the Vietnamese government. Another project – paving 118 km of the same road between Stung Treng province and Banlung – will be managed by the Chinese company Shanghai Construction, So Samnang added. He said the project will cost $70 million – paid for by a loan from China – and will begin later this year. Tra Nuth Sean, Director of the Provincial Tourism department, said the roadwork was part of the government’s plan to promote northeastern Cambodia as an alternative destination for tourist after the temples of Angkor and the coast. "I predict that, in the next 20 years, Ratanakkiri will receive as many tourists as other tourist-attracting provinces because the government is now promoting the province," he said. As the Ratanakkiri airport is not operational, the only way to travel to Ratanakkiri is by road, making smoother transportation key to promoting tourism, Tra Nuth Sean said. About 19,000 foreigners visited the province in 2008, he said, ranking it the fourth-most popular tourist destination in Cambodia behind Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, and the coast.