ASEAN PARTNERS URGED TO SPEED UP SINGPORE-KUNMING RAILWAY LINK PROJECT

HANOI, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia today urged Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,
Burma and Vietnam to speed up construction of the Singapore-Kunming Railway Link
(SKRL) in several missing areas.

Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri hoped the close cooperation
would culminate in the completion of the project in 2015 in line with the
establishment of the Asean community in the same year.

Speaking after chairing a special working group on the railway project here
today, Abdul Rahim said relevant infrastucture was vital for the project in
order to help forge economic cooperation among Asean members countries.

He added that a vast market of 1.75 billion, comprising China's population
of 1.2 billion and the Asean market of 550 million people, was waiting to be
tapped with the development of the Mekong Delta.

The one-day meeting, which was attended by the railway authorities of Asean
partners and China, discussed funding for the project by less developed
countries.

The meeting, also attended by representatives from the Bangkok-based United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and,
the Jakarta-based Asean secretariat, hoped the US$10 billion Asean China
Economic Cooperation Fund could be tapped to part finance the construction of
the missing link.
--BERNAMA