Lao Voices

China assists Lao-Viet railway study

The Lao government is conducting a feasibility study for a proposed rail link from Vientiane to Thakhek district, Khammuan province, and on to Muya in Vietnam to connect to the Vietnam Railway Network, a senior official said yesterday.

A group of 12 Chinese technical staff came to Laos three weeks ago and are now working with Lao officials in the south of the country, after starting their work in Vientiane.

The Chinese government-funded study is expected to end this week and will later present its findings to the Lao government, according to the Head of the Engineering Division under the Lao Railway Authority, Mr Somsana Latsaphong.

The final conclusions of the study, costing around US$100,000, are scheduled to be presented within the next three months.

The 486km railway will also include the planned 140km stretch from Thakhek to Muya on the Vietnamese border, part of an eight-month feasibility study conducted by Vietnam to be presented to the Lao government in August.

The two reports will be used to entice donors and investors to help finance the international railway connectivity project.

“We haven’t had the information we need about such projects before, such as cost, so there haven’t been any offers of investment in the past,” Mr Somsana said.

If the project is realised, it will connect Laos to a Vietnamese seaport and to regional rail lines running from Kunming through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, enabling Laos better access to and competition in the world market, said Director General of the Department of Public Works and Transport, Viengsavath Siphandone.

As the only landlocked developing country in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), Laos is disadvantaged by higher transport costs, which undermine the competitiveness of Lao exports.

“Higher transport costs make it difficult to compete efficiently in world markets,” Mr Viengsavath said.

To link the country with the outside world, transit connections are a priority for the Lao government and earlier this week Laos, along with the other GMS countries, officially opened the regional R3 highway.

The new road is part of the GMS North-South Economic Corridor, and runs from Kunming in China to Bangkok, Thailand, passing through Luang Namtha and Bokeo provinces.

In addition, the Lao government, in collaboration with Thailand, plans to open for passenger travel a railway link from Dongphosy village in Hadxaifong district, Vientiane, to Nong Khai province, Thailand, across the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge next month.

A feasibility study of an additional 9km section of railway connecting Dongphosy village to Khamsavath village in Xaysettha district, Vientiane, is currently under way, funded by the French Development Agency.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej pledged 900 million Thai baht in financial assistance to the project on Sunday during his attendance at the Third GMS Summit in Vientiane.

By Souksakhone Vaenkeo
April 3, 2008
Vientiane Times - Vientianetimes.org.la