China, Thailand ink $10.6 bn railway pact
December 20, 2014, 5:39 am

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (center L) and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (center R) attend the signing ceremony of two memoranda of understanding on railway cooperation and farm produce trade cooperation in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 19, 2014 [Xinhua]

Following a bilateral meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha witnessed the signing ceremony at the Thai Government House on Friday.

The project is estimated to cost some $10.6 billion.

The agreement stipulates that China will invest in two dual-track rail lines in Thailand that will span 867 km (542 miles) and connect northeast Thailand’s Nong Khai province, Bangkok and eastern Rayong province.

The Chinese Premier has indicated there could be expansion plans for the project at a later stage to aid neighbouring countries.

“The new railway will also benefit neighboring countries if extended to other places of the region,” Li said.

“This is the expansion, extension and further confirmation of the previous agreement that the Chinese and Thai governments reached last year,” said the Chinese Premier.

The two countries also signed another MoU on cooperation in trade of agricultural products.

China will now double its purchase of Thai farm products on the basis of the volume the two sides agreed upon last year, said the Chinese Premier, which translates to about 2 million metric tons of rice and some 200,000 tons of rubber.

This would help both China and Thailand to resist risks of international market fluctuations, said Li.

“Only China has such a big market and a huge purchasing power which could consume the big agricultural production of rice, rubber and others of Thailand,” said Li.

Li arrived in Bangkok on Friday to attend the 5th summit of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Economic Cooperation.

The GMS Economic Cooperation Program, which was started in 1992 by six countries along the Mekong River — Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, aims to link these countries through improving infrastructure, promoting trade and investment and stimulating economic growth.

TBP and Agencies