A Japanese business group has expressed interest in buying a train for Laos , to help the landlocked country overcome transport barriers to world markets in the future, according to a senior railway official.

The Deputy Director of the Lao Railway Authority, Mr Sonesack N. Ngansana, said yesterday that Tezuka Rolling Stock of Japan had announced it would buy a two-carriage train, for goods and passengers, from Thailand , as a gift for the Lao government once it opens the first railway early next year.

“The Japanese group informed us recently that they would like to give us the train we need,” he told Vientiane Times, adding that the group recognised the importance of a railway link for a landlocked country like Laos .

The group holds major investment shares in a railway business in Tokyo , Japan , according to Mr Sonesack.

He said the Japanese entrepreneurs would also provide financial support to ensure Lao officials received the proper training in how to operate and maintain the train, to ensure it would run smoothly once the railway link to Thailand is completed.

A Lao business owner, Mr Hom Songpadith, speaking on behalf of the Japanese entrepreneurs, confirmed they were negotiating with Thai authorities to buy the train, and said Thai trains had compatible wheel types.

He explained that at, first, the Japanese wanted to present Laos with a Japanese-built train, but it had the wrong wheel design, and this would have meant extra costs in having it modified for the Lao track.

He also said he could not confirm how much the train would cost, because the price was subject to negotiation.

Mr Sonesack said the Japanese entrepreneurs had initiated the train purchasing project earlier this year, during the inauguration ceremony of the Lao railway link to Thailand .

He said he hoped the negotiations could be expedited so that there would be a train in place as soon as possible after the railway is completed.

“We won't be part of the purchasing process, because it's a negotiation that doesn't involve us, but we will do whatever we can to facilitate the agreement,” he said.

Mr Sonesack said that once Laos has a railway, it will be much easier to transport goods across the Thai border, and that the Lao and Thai governments had agreed to allow their trains to cross the border.

The construction of the 3.5 km-long railway from the centre of the Vientiane-Nong Khai Friendship Bridge to Dongphosy Train Station began in January this year and will take 18 months to complete, according to the project schedule.

The French government has provided 1.8 billion kip (150,000 euros) to carry out surveys for the construction of a further 9 kilometres of track to Sokham village, which is the planned location of the Vientiane Train Station.

By vientiane times

KPL) The construction project of a railway system in Laos linking sub-region is almost 30 per cent completed, and is anticipated to open for public use by 2008 and to serve the 25th SEA-Game 2009 that will be hosted by Laos.

This is according to the project owner concluded last month, compared to the project plan.

The project was pressed button by Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh to kick start the construction earlier this year with an appreciation of linking sub-region along the Road No 1, which is belongs to an initiative idea of ASEAN Railway Kunming-Singapore...more

The project phase 1 stretches from the end of Friendship bridge to Ban Dongposy is valued at 197 million baht, of which 30 per cent of grant aid and loan for the rest.

For the second phase the railway will be built from the first station at Ban Dongphosy to Vientiane station at Ban Dongsavath with a stretch of nine km.

This project was granted by the French Government through Agence Francaise de Developpement that has approved the first grant of 150,000 euro.

This project has drawn attention from many companies both local and foreign that now five foreign companies have bought bid envelops from project owners.

Next phase of railway construction will build to connect the km 21 on the road No 13 passing through behind of the 25th SEA-Game stadium, industrial zone and an international airport that will be built in future.

The railway line of km 21 stretch is under survey and will be succeeded by this year.

Linking this railway from the km 21 to Thakhek district, Khammouna province, which connected Muda of Vietnam to Tan Up of Hanoi with a total stretch of 519 km.

One of the railways is the China-ASEAN rail link with three separate lines linking Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos with China.

The rail link will further go to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, and will be altogether 5,500 km-long. With its expected completion by 2015, the rail link will play a key role in pushing forward regional economic cooperation and integration.

China has already stated construction of the eastern line of rail link from Kunming to the Vietnamese border and it is investing 50 billion yuan (6.25 billion U.S. dollars) to build a total of three lines in Yunnan province to link them with Laos and Myanmar besides Vietnam.

Source: kpl

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Railway Agency is designing a project to build two railways from Vietnam to Laos and Cambodia.

These are projects in the transport and railway development strategy of Vietnam to 2020, which was approved by the Prime Minister, and part of the trans-Asia and ASEAN railway network as well. The two projects have had feasibility research reports...more

The first project is the Saigon – Loc Ninh route to Cambodia, which is 130km in length. The Vietnam Railway Agency and two Chinese partners, the China Mechanical Equipment Import Export Corporation (CMC) and the China Railway Construction Corporation (SRCC), are performing research on this project.

This route will be 1m-wide railroad, with 12 stations, the first is Di An Station in southern Binh Duong Province and the last is the border-gate station of Hoa Lu. The total investment of this project is around VND3,918 billion (US$244.875 million).

The second project is the Vung Ang – Mu Gia (Ha Tinh province) to Laos, with 119km in length, and 1m width. This route will also have 12 stations, seven tunnels, and 24 bridges, totalling VND4,523 billion ($282,687 million) of investment.

According to Nguyen Van Doanh, Vice Head of the Vietnam Railway Agency, when being completed, the projects will open great opportunities for transport and trade cooperation among Indochina countries and to the region. For Vietnam, the projects will help promote economic development of some provinces, especially the Vung Ang port area in Ha Tinh province.

To connect railways, not only does Vietnam have to build railroads, but also Laos and Cambodia have to build railroads to their borders with Vietnam, Mr Doanh said.

After finalising research, the three countries will negotiate about the construction and use of border-gate stations.

(Source: TBKTVN)

(KPL) Approximately 80 trainees from Laos are sent for training in various programmes under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC).

“So far, India has trained over 600 participants from Laos,” Mr Suresh K. Goel, Indian Ambassador to Laos said at the reception ceremony of India alumni on last Friday...more

Minister to Prime Minister’s Office, Prof. Dr. Bountiem Phissamay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Phongsavath Boupha and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ty Phommachack attended the ceremony.

“India’s assistance to Laos under ITEC is mainly in the form of training officials in short and medium term courses,” Mr Goel said.

The entire cost of training under these schemes include return international airfares, tuition fees, accommodation, emergency medical treatment, stipend, book allowance and study tour are borne by the government of India.

The courses which have been availed by Laos range from remote sensing, rural development, parliamentary internship, banking and finance, small business and planing promotion, English language skills, business management, entrepreneurship development to advance training programme in information technology.

We have also set up an IT centre in Vientiane and have successfully completed training of a large number of Lao officials in software skills, Mr Goel continued.
“We will be sending Lao students for Master in Computer Application Programmes at the Indraprastha University, Delhi this year.”

The Lao-India Entrepreneurship Centre is another project having made valuable contribution to entrepreneurship development in Laos, especially in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.

Source: kpl.net.la