“China is willing to work with Malaysia to actively study the East Coast Railway, connect the middle section of the China-Laos Railway and take the Pan-Asia Railway Central Line from concept to reality.”
The ECRL launched to great fanfare in 2017 as a flagship project of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Malaysia. It was billed as a replacement for a colonial-era train system, upgrading it to an electrified rail line that promises to halve the travel time for freight and passengers to and from capital city Kuala Lumpur.A construction site of the East Coast Rail Link in Kuantan, Malaysia, in December 2023. Photo: Xinhua
But the project was shelved temporarily when a new Malaysian administration sought to revise the cost downwards as the country grappled with revelations of surging national debt, partly blamed on the multibillion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Wednesday’s launch event marked the start of the final leg of construction of the 655km ECRL, where the rail line enters the west coast via the district of Gombak in Selangor, Malaysia’s richest and most industrialised state.
Anwar said the ECRL in its current form was proof of China being “great collaborators” for regional development, as the ambitious rail project gathers steam after a series of delays.
“I think at the rate we are going, this comprehensive strategic partnership with China … is a showcase of how China can be great collaborators in the economic field and all fields of human development,” Anwar said in his speech.
Earlier on Wednesday, Malaysia and China renewed a five-year economic and trade pact and expanded cooperation across sectors such as green technology and cross-border crime, marking Li’s first official visit to the Southeast Asian nation in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Anwar described Li’s visit as an “important milestone” in Malaysia-China relations, and also extended his “profound thanks and appreciation” to China’s President Xi Jinping for his support in seeing through the ECRL project.
The integrated terminal in Gombak district will serve as the terminus point for passenger traffic on the ECRL and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
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Malaysia’s transport minister eyes partnerships with China to drive infrastructure goals
Malaysia’s transport minister eyes partnerships with China to drive infrastructure goals
The ECRL route will extend further to Port Klang for cargo delivery, with the last leg of the project expected to be completed by December 2027, according to a joint statement by project owner Malaysia Rail Link and main contractor China Communications Construction Co (CCCC).
The project, initially valued at 55 billion ringgit (US$11.6 billion), was among a slew of BRI deals that Malaysia has taken on in a bid to supercharge its economic growth.
Malaysia, however, suspended the project after voters dumped the administration of then-prime minister Najib Razak, who was accused of using billions of dollars in Chinese investments to plug financial holes caused by the financially ruinous 1MDB scandal.
The suspension was part of a broad recalibration of Chinese investments in Malaysia at the time. The government then cancelled three pipeline projects being built by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering at a total cost of US$1.8 billion.
The ECRL resumed in 2019, with the government and the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) agreeing to a route realignment and a lower cost.
Last month, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook floated a plan to link up the ECRL to Thailand’s south by redeveloping a long-defunct rail border crossing in Malaysia’s northern Kelantan state into a key connection point for the Pan-Asian Railway.
In an interview with This Week in Asia last week, Loke said he was confident that Malaysia will be able to push ahead with its infrastructure agenda with support from China as a development partner.
Source link : https://amp.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3267273/li-qiang-says-china-will-consider-making-malaysias-ecrl-central-piece-pan-asia-railway
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Publish date : 2024-06-19 08:30:29
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