Lone Rider
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"Laos to Break Ground For Thai-Vietnam Railway Project" but (see below) seeing is believing
Laos is set to formally launch construction of an ambitious high-speed railway linking the country's western border with Thailand to Vietnam in August, an official said Thursday, following the completion of a feasibility study by a Malaysian company that will construct and operate the project. A groundbreaking ceremony for the railway will be held in Savannakhet city's Kaysone Phomvihane district "sometime in August," an official from the Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transportation in Vientiane told RFA's Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The ceremony will mark the laying of the "foundation" for the project but a precise date for construction to proceed full steam ahead has yet to be set. Malaysian company Giant Consolidated Ltd. has not established a project office in Savannakhet to date. "About the office, nothing has been said yet," the official said. "It's obvious that when the project kicks off, an office will be needed here in [Savannakhet] province."
Giant was in early November awarded a contract to construct and operate the 220-kilometer (140-mile) railway from Savannakhet, on Laos's southwestern border with Thailand, to the Lao Bao border gate with Vietnam in the east. The company recently completed a mandatory environmental impact assessment needed for construction to begin, but has not yet submitted the study to authorities, the Lao official said, nor had it delivered findings to provincial officials from a survey of the construction site conducted earlier this year.
In April, a Lao railways official told RFA that before launching construction Giant also needs to carry out a project design study, which it expected to complete by August. But despite the lack of progress, the public works and transportation official expressed confidence that the railway would proceed, citing "regular discussions" about project details between a Giant representative and his ministry, "which cannot be revealed yet." Construction of the railway, which runs from Savannakhet city in the east to the border town of Lao Bao in the west with an onward link to Vietnam's Danang port city, is expected to take four years. New Zealand financial institution Rich Banco Berhad agreed in April to provide a U.S. $5 billion loan to Giant to fund the construction.
Source RFA June 6 2013
BUT
From the Moderator of the LAOFab Forum: Well, when I say 'expected', what I mean is that a Lao officials has made an announcement. But there are still serious doubts about the financing.
The existence of 'Rich Banco Berhad' is still shrouded in mystery. See this article about offshore tax havens in Forbes: Offshore Tax Havens For Beginners: Pick An Inoffensive Name - Forbes Does Rich Banco Berhad really exist? Why could Forbes find no evidence that the company was registered in New Zealand, as claimed? And why can we find no other mention of the company (and it's representative Gilbert Hung Ho Kuen) on the internet? Have these people ever handled a project of this kind, anywhere in the world? And where is the money actually coming from?
Laos is set to formally launch construction of an ambitious high-speed railway linking the country's western border with Thailand to Vietnam in August, an official said Thursday, following the completion of a feasibility study by a Malaysian company that will construct and operate the project. A groundbreaking ceremony for the railway will be held in Savannakhet city's Kaysone Phomvihane district "sometime in August," an official from the Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transportation in Vientiane told RFA's Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The ceremony will mark the laying of the "foundation" for the project but a precise date for construction to proceed full steam ahead has yet to be set. Malaysian company Giant Consolidated Ltd. has not established a project office in Savannakhet to date. "About the office, nothing has been said yet," the official said. "It's obvious that when the project kicks off, an office will be needed here in [Savannakhet] province."
Giant was in early November awarded a contract to construct and operate the 220-kilometer (140-mile) railway from Savannakhet, on Laos's southwestern border with Thailand, to the Lao Bao border gate with Vietnam in the east. The company recently completed a mandatory environmental impact assessment needed for construction to begin, but has not yet submitted the study to authorities, the Lao official said, nor had it delivered findings to provincial officials from a survey of the construction site conducted earlier this year.
In April, a Lao railways official told RFA that before launching construction Giant also needs to carry out a project design study, which it expected to complete by August. But despite the lack of progress, the public works and transportation official expressed confidence that the railway would proceed, citing "regular discussions" about project details between a Giant representative and his ministry, "which cannot be revealed yet." Construction of the railway, which runs from Savannakhet city in the east to the border town of Lao Bao in the west with an onward link to Vietnam's Danang port city, is expected to take four years. New Zealand financial institution Rich Banco Berhad agreed in April to provide a U.S. $5 billion loan to Giant to fund the construction.
Source RFA June 6 2013
BUT
From the Moderator of the LAOFab Forum: Well, when I say 'expected', what I mean is that a Lao officials has made an announcement. But there are still serious doubts about the financing.
The existence of 'Rich Banco Berhad' is still shrouded in mystery. See this article about offshore tax havens in Forbes: Offshore Tax Havens For Beginners: Pick An Inoffensive Name - Forbes Does Rich Banco Berhad really exist? Why could Forbes find no evidence that the company was registered in New Zealand, as claimed? And why can we find no other mention of the company (and it's representative Gilbert Hung Ho Kuen) on the internet? Have these people ever handled a project of this kind, anywhere in the world? And where is the money actually coming from?
