Japan to cooperate with Vietnam on reviving bullet rail project

Japan will cooperate with Vietnam to promote use of its high-speed train technology if the Vietnamese government revives its plan to build a nationwide high-speed railroad network, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said.

“We’ll continue to work with the Vietnamese government to have Japan’s high-speed train technology employed,” Maehara told reporters at a briefing in Tokyo today. Japan will also continue to explore ways to fund the project, he said.

Vietnam’s National Assembly on June 19 rejected the proposed $56 billion high-speed railway on concerns about paying for a project costing about 60 percent of economic output.

“The government and the Ministry of Transport will study a comprehensive master plan for the country’s transport system,” Dang Vu Minh, chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, said by phone yesterday.

Vietnam Railways Corp. was planning to use Japanese technology to build the high-speed train line, Nguyen Huu Bang, the company’s chairman, said in February. Japan was exploring ways to help fund the project, Maehara said in April.

Sumitomo Corp. had teamed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to bid on the project. Itochu Corp. was heading a competing group with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.

Business Week

Tags: Vietnam Infrastructure, Vietnam bullet rail project