Paow's News Post

Name: Ms. Soulivanh Rattanavong (PAOW)

Link to article:

http://in.reuters.com/article/2010/12/07/idINIndia-53396820101207

Laos says railway to China finished by 2014

BEIJING | Tue Dec 7, 2010 12:21pm IST

(Reuters) - The poor and landlocked Southeast Asian nation of Laos expects its rail link with China to be finished by 2014, boosting trade links with its giant neighbour and the rest of Asia, its deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.
The railway is part of a broader plan to connect Kunming city in southwestern China with Singapore, including Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.
The country's Deputy Prime Minister, Somsavat Lengsavad, told a conference in Beijing that the Laos-to-China part of the railway should start construction early in 2011 and take four years to complete, after the two sides signed an agreement in April.
"To free our country from the least developed status ... our government has invested much in communication infrastructure development in order to complement both intra-ASEAN and ASEAN-China integration," he said.
"We believe that this project will contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of Laos, as well as to the promotion of economic cooperation between ASEAN and China," Lengsavad added.
The railway will also help with "the masterplan for ASEAN connectivity and the implementation of the ASEAN-China free trade area", he said. It would be a "high speed" line, Lengsavad added, without elaborating.
Laos is already connected to Thailand by rail, though only up to just outside its capital Vientiane.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
A China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement came into effect in January, forming an economic bloc of 1.9 billion people.
Chinese companies are increasingly involved in logging and hydropower projects in Laos, and Chinese aid has helped build roads, markets and other infrastructure in the country, challenging Laos' traditional close ties with Vietnam.
Bilateral trade between China and Laos grew by more than half in 2009 to $751.8 million.

Opinions:

Ten years ago, life around Vientiane seemed less dynamic than it is today. There are more opportunities for businesses and more diversity throughout the country. According to this news article, it states that there will be a high speed railway ranging from the south to the north of Laos. Due to the fact that Laos is geographically the best shortcut for transportation, the neigboring countries particularly China is willing to increase the trade and market its goods to elsewhere. This project is a join-ventured between China and Laos and it takes approximately four years to finish the first high speed railway of Laos. The Deputy Prime minister, Somsavat Lengsavad, stated that this high speed railway project will benefit to the country’s development as well as the strong tights between China and Laos. Personally, I think this is good for Laos to utilize the this figure to develop the country and for all Aseans countries to usebecome more tighten in the world of business.

Question for discussion:

1.      What do you think about this high speed railway project? Will there be any advantage or disadvantage? Which one is outweight one another?