China’s US$7 billion railway link to Laos is almost half done, on schedule to begin service in 2021

[beijingwalker]

China’s US$7 billion railway link to Laos is almost half done, on schedule to begin service in 2021

• Laos is dependent on China to bankroll the US$7 billion project, raising concerns of being caught in a debt trap
• The Kunming-Vientiane link would eventually connect with a railway line to Bangkok, and southward along the Malay peninsula through to Singapor

Published: 11:00am, 21 Mar, 2019

A railway bridge under construction by Chinese engineers across the Mekong River in Luang Prabang. Photo: Xinhua

China’s railway line to Laos is almost half complete, putting it on schedule to begin service in December 2021, said the chief of Lao Railways.

Trains on the line can travel at up to 160 km/h (100mph) said Lao Railways’ director general Somsana Ratsaphong. Tickets will start from US$20 a trip.

The US$7 billion project is a showcase of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative” for rebuilding infrastructure along the ancient Silk Road from China to Africa and Europe, which has garnered an estimated US$460 billion in investments
since its inception in 2013. The Kunming-Vientiane link would eventually connect with a railway line to Bangkok, and southward along the Malay peninsula through to Singapore.

The Chinese government will bankroll 70 per cent of the cost of the railway, while Laos – where subsistence agriculture makes up half of the economic output – pays for the remaining 30 per cent with loans from Chinese financial institutions. China was the biggest foreign investor in Laos as of 2016, having invested US$5.4 billion since 1989.

“For an economy like ours, with a population of only 6.8 million people, it is good for us to make use of the manpower and finance from China,” said Ratsaphong, during the Asia-Pacific Rail conference in Hong Kong.

Part of the loan’s tenure will be interest-free, with a 2 per cent annual rate charged over 30 years, according to Ratsaphong. The financing terms have raised concerns among developing nations of being pushed into a debt trap, as debtors may find themselves saddled with large borrowings that would take a long time to repay.

https://www.scmp.com/business/banki...s7-billion-railway-link-laos-almost-half-done

 

[beijingwalker]

Builder of the world.

 

[oprih]

China builds while murica bombs and their lapdogs cheer.

 

[AViet]

Thank you China. For the first time in hístory, countries in continent south east asia are to be connected by railways. One can travel from Singapore to China by rail.

Next steps should be making rail into standard gauge. Different gauges can make cost of freight a lot higher, then reduce the efficiency.

 

[beijingwalker]

Thank you China. For the first time in hístory, countries in continent south east asia are to be connected by railways. One can travel from Singapore to China by rail.

Next steps should be making rail into standard gauge. Different gauges can make cost of freight a lot higher, then reduce the efficiency.

That's why Kim Jong-un prefers to take a train ride from North Korea to Vietnam.