China Offers Attractive Financial Package For Malaysia's ECRL Project

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) - The Chinese government has put forward an attractive financial offer which is favorable for Malaysia to implement the East Coast Rail Line Project (ECRL). The Prime Minister's Department (JPM) said that to enable Malaysia to obtain the offer, the government of China had nominated its biggest construction company, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), to implement the project at a cost of RM55 billion (US$12.42 billion). "CCCC is the largest design and construction company in China and majority of its shares are owned and controlled by the Chinese government. "CCCC also have a good track record in large construction projects including in Malaysia," said JPM in a written reply to Nasruddin Hassan in the Dewan Rakyat (Malaysian Parliament), Thursday. Nasruddin wanted to know whether the government had carried out in-depth research in awarding the concession contract for the construction of ECRL, including involving the performance of the company given the construction tender. JPM said with the commitment and good performance of the company, the government was confident that CCCC could provide the best results and complete the ECRL project within a suitable period. It also said the project was not new as it had been discussed at various levels since 1981. The department said a feasibility study had been conducted since 2007 and market research survey through a Request for Information (RFI) was carried out from March to June 2016. Through the RFI, the government received response from 27 groups from different countries, including South Korea, China, Australia, the United States and Europe, which were keen to implement the project, it said. JPM said through the study, the technical specifications, including indicative of the cost, was determined. Thus, during the official visit by the Malaysian delegation to China in October last year, several matters were discussed to increase investment and also improve bilateral cooperation with China. JPM said that during the negotiations, both governments reached an agreement that implementation of the ECRL project would be on a Government-to-Government (G2G) project initiative between China and Malaysia. The department said ECRL was an important infrastructure project for the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECER) that would connect the East Coast and the Klang Valley. "Implementation of ECRL will be a catalyst for the transformation of the states on the East Coast of the peninsula and set to stimulate further socio economic growth and benefit the people as a whole," it said. The proposed implementation of the ECRL project was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when tabling the Budget 2017 in October last year. The project would involve the construction of a stretch of about 600 kilometres which would connect the Klang Valley with Kuantan, Pahang, up to Terengganu and Tumpat in Kelantan. The project is scheduled to begin in July and is expected to be completed in June 2024. -- BERNAMA