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'Game changer': Laos opens $6-B Chinese-built railway line

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="This frame grab from Lao National TV video footage taken on October 16, 2021 via AFPTV shows the Lane Xang bullet train at the Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane. A new 6 billion USD Chinese-built railway line opens in Laos on December 3, bringing hopes of an economic boost to the reclusive nation, but experts are questioning the benefits of a project that has seen thousands of farmers evicted from their land. STR / LAO NATIONAL TV / AFPTV / AFP" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/afp/12/03/20211203-vientiane-railway-station.jpg"/><figcaption>This frame grab from Lao National TV video footage taken on October 16, 2021 via AFPTV shows the Lane Xang bullet train at the Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane. A new 6 billion USD Chinese-built railway line opens in Laos on December 3, bringing hopes of an economic boost to the reclusive nation, but experts are questioning the benefits of a project that has seen thousands of farmers evicted from their land. <em>STR / LAO NATIONAL TV / AFPTV / AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>BANGKOK, Thailand - Laos is set to open a $6 billion Chinese-built railway on Friday, with debt concerns balanced against hopes it could boost the reclusive nation&#x27;s struggling economy.</p><p>The 414-kilometer (260-mile) route took five years to construct under China&#x27;s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.</p><p>Analysts have acknowledged the potential economic boost, but have queried how infrastructure-poor Laos will pay its $1.06 billion debt -- and whether it is ready to exploit the state-of-the-art transport system.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/27/21/montenegro-true-cost-china-loan-road">Montenegro learns true cost of China-backed $1B road to nowhere</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/06/10/21/samoas-disputed-leader-promises-chinese-backed-port-at-a-third-of-the-cost">Samoa&#x27;s disputed leader promises Chinese-backed port at a third of the cost</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/25/19/chinas-island-cities-treasure-or-trouble-for-asia">China&#x27;s island cities: Treasure or trouble for Asia?</a></li></ul><p>But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday the &quot;flagship project&quot; would give a &quot;boost to Laos&#x27; strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub&quot;.</p><p>President Thongloun Sisoulith is expected to hold virtual talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, with both expected to deliver speeches at the official opening ceremony.</p><p>The route will connect the Chinese city of Kunming to the Laotian capital Vientiane, with grand plans for high-speed rail to ultimately snake down through Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore.</p><p>The communist-run country of 7.2 million people previously had only four kilometers of railway tracks.</p><p>But now sleek red, blue and white bullet trains will speed along the new line at up to 160 kmh (100 mph), passing through 75 tunnels and across 167 bridges, stopping at 10 passenger stations.</p><p>Passenger services are expected to begin on Saturday, state media reported, although only for those fully vaccinated.</p><div><strong>GAME CHANGER</strong></div><p>Laos took a battering in the pandemic with economic growth declining to 0.4 percent in 2020, the lowest level in three decades, according to the World Bank.</p><p>Hopes for a 2021 rebound were dashed when the country locked down as it registered more than 76,000 infections in the past eight months.</p><p>The railway could boost Laos&#x27; economy, but the government needed to undertake substantial reforms -- including improving its border management systems, a World Bank report noted.</p><p>But the project could be an economic &quot;game changer&quot;, according to Bangkok Bank chief economist Burin Adulwattana.</p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t look at it as China trying to bankrupt Laos... it&#x27;s not a Trojan Horse strategy. I think it&#x27;s going to be a win-win situation,&quot; he said.</p><p>But there is little transparency around how Laos will fund its debt, Australian National University lecturer Greg Raymond said.</p><p>A World Bank report noted &quot;funding of the existing public infrastructure program looks increasingly unsustainable&quot;.</p><p>Raymond noted the railway is a huge test for the country&#x27;s mostly agricultural subsistence-based economy, which doesn&#x27;t have a big merchant class.</p><p>&quot;The issue for Laos is whether their economy... their private sector is positioned to take advantage of this transport system,&quot; Raymond told AFP.</p><p>lpm/rbu</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/agOEOvI5ZCc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Laos is set to open a $6 billion Chinese-built railway on Friday, with debt concerns balanced against hopes it could boost the nation's struggling economy.