A Japanese company has decided to cancel plans to participate in a high-speed rail project linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, government and company officials said on Thursday.
Japanese and Malaysian government officials said the companies, including East Japan Railway Company, had hoped to use Japan’s Shinkansen system for the project, but decided it was too risky without financial support from the Malaysian government. It is said that he did. .
The development could further strengthen rival Chinese companies’ footprint in infrastructure construction in East Asia, following the completion of a high-speed railway in Indonesia in 2023 and one currently under construction in Thailand. there is a possibility.
A file photo taken at JR Tokyo Station on April 3, 2021 shows a JR East Shinkansen. (Joint)
The bidding deadline is next Monday. The Malaysian government began soliciting bids in July 2023.
The project is expected to cost 100 billion ringgit ($21 billion), but the Malaysian government intends to pursue it through private financing rather than government spending or extended debt guarantees.
As Japanese companies withdraw, several local companies are planning to bid in partnership with Chinese and European companies, the people said.
The Malaysian government plans to narrow down the candidates within the next few months and begin full-scale negotiations with the Singapore government as early as this year.
The Malaysian and Singaporean governments originally reached an agreement in principle on the project in 2013, which called for the construction of a 350km high-speed rail link that would reduce travel time between Kuala Lumpur and the city-state to just 90 minutes. . More than 4 hours by car.
From Japan, East Japan Railway Company and major trading company Sumitomo Corporation expressed interest in participating in the project. In 2015, then-Japanese Transport Minister Keiichi Ishii pitched the Shinkansen system to Malaysian government officials during a visit to Kuala Lumpur.
However, in 2021, before the current government of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim could officially restart the project, then-Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin canceled the project due to concerns about the financial burden.