Vietnam plans to spend VND28.13 trillion ($1.52 billion) on building a 3,041-kilometer long road along the country’s coastline, the government said in a statement Thursday.

The road is being built with an aim to effectively use the country’s resources, boost socioeconomic development and enhance national defense, it said.

The government will spend VND16 trillion on the construction of the road from now to 2020, and the rest after that, it said.

Vietnam has a coastline of 3,260 kilometers.