Railway projects key to Southeast Asia's future development

The 688-kilometer East Coast Rail Link project undertaken by the China Communications Construction Company Limited in Malaysia has started construction in Pahang State last week, and is estimated to be completed in seven years.

With a total contract value of about 85.9 billion yuan ($12.9 billion), it is the largest infrastructure construction project Chinese enterprises are building outside of China, and is expected to play an important role in the formation of the Belt and Road.

The railway, a passenger-cargo dual-purpose standard electric railway, is the first railway which China has built in Malaysia, as well as the first railway to be built in the eastern part of the country. It will connect the three states in eastern Malaysia and become a transport artery of national importance.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the railway construction has broken a deadlock, and brings about new ways of thinking. The Belt and Road Initiative will markedly improve land and sea interconnections and create bright trade and investment prospects.

Liu Qitao, president of the construction company, said: "The railway project will improve local residents' livelihoods, promote the development of industry, commerce and trade, logistics and tourism… As a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, it has important value as an example."

Southeast Asia has been a key region on the development map of the initiative. Last month, the Thai government approved the 235-km Bangkok-Kele railway project, which will be built by Chinese companies starting next month and will be finished in four years costing about 35.8 billion yuan. The railway will pass through less developed agricultural regions in the north of the country.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the China-Thailand railway will not only boost development along the railway in Thailand, but also consolidate Thailand's position as an important regional transport hub and economic center in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The project is good for the development of Thailand in the long run, and is in line with the interests of the Thai people.

The 142-km first stage project of the Jakarta-Bandunghigh-speed railway in Indonesia is the first railway project Chinese enterprises have undertaken using China's technology standards and designs, and will be operated by China upon completion, together with the comprehensive development along the railway.

The railway will be finished in three years, and shorten the traveling time between the two cities from five hours to about 40 minutes.

The 400-km China-Laos railway construction project started in December 2016, and is planned for completion before the end of 2021, connects Vientiane with Mohan in Southwest China's Yunnan province. More than 60 percent of the railway is comprised of bridges and tunnels, and the whole project costs nearly 40 billion yuan.

Jia Pujing, a researcher of macroeconomics at Renmin University of China, said that Southeast Asia, as China's neighbor, is the immediate beneficiary of the Belt and Road Initiative, and they are important channels for China's going out endeavors. The infrastructure projects will also play an important role in promoting their economic rise.