ASEAN Seeks Foreign Investment for Railway
- From: "Chim" <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 28 Nov 2005 07:47:50 -0800
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Southeast Asian nations will look for
foreign investment for a proposed railway line from Singapore to the
Chinese city of Kunming that is expected to bolster regional trade,
Malaysia's trade minister said Monday.
Rafidah Aziz said feasibility studies to identify the best route for
the rail line spanning over 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) as well as
dozens of connecting rails to link it to major towns in the region have
been completed.
"Now is the time for us to market it to private investors and private
organizations," she said. "We want to get funding quickly so we can
implement the project without any delays," she said.
Some members of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
or ASEAN, has begun to rehabilitate national rail tracks and construct
new rails funded by donors such as South Korea and the Asian
Development Bank, but overall financing is inadequate, she said.
"It's a long-term project and the capital outlay will be massive," she
told reporters after chairing an ASEAN ministerial meeting on
development cooperation in the Mekong Basin.
Specific details of investment needed in the project will be unveiled
at a conference next year to be held in Malaysia before July, she said,
adding that Thailand will chair a committee to seek financing for the
project.
She didn't say how much the project is worth but trade officials
estimate it will cost at least 1.8 billion dollars (euro1.5 billion).
The Singapore-Kunming rail link is expected to be a major trade boost
for impoverished ASEAN members such as Cambodia and landlocked Laos,
which are struggling to speed up economic development after years of
isolation.
Rafidah acknowledged it would not be easy to woo private investment as
it will involve construction in difficult terrain in some countries,
clearing land mines in Cambodia and Laos, and harmonizing customs and
immigration.
She urged ASEAN nations involved in the rail project to offer
incentives such as land, tax exemptions and other facilities to woo
investors.
"The railway project in the Mekong Basin where it's virgin territory is
not going to be immediately viable, so there must be spinoffs from
there," she said.
11/28/05 05:26 EST
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