The railway from Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to Van Don Port in Vietnam, known as the Vientiane Railway! The line is 555 kilometers long, with 450 kilometers within Laos and only 100 kilometers in Vietnam. The project's total investment is about 6.3 billion U.S. dollars, with a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour! The project was signed on February 27, 2023, but unfortunately, the project has been set up, but there are no investors or construction companies, it remains vacant!
The Vientiane-Van Don railway needs to be built, because once it is built, Laos will have its own seaport. Goods can be transported to Van Don Port in Vietnam via railway, then loaded onto ships to transport goods all over the world. But does this railway have the necessity to exist? Of course it does, but who will build it? How to share the costs? These are very difficult situations.
Laos itself is a developing country, with a relatively backward economy. Suddenly coming up with 6.3 billion U.S. dollars is almost impossible. Vietnam also doesn't have the capacity. Vietnam is also developing rapidly, but its fiscal surplus is not high; it earns hard-earned money. If we follow the proportion of cost sharing, Laos would bear 90% of the construction costs, while Vietnam only needs to bear 10%. This railway might be feasible or not, but for Laos, it will bear the majority of the costs, at least 90%, which is no problem.
For Vietnam, this railway is a transverse railway, whether it exists or not, it is almost useless. The only thing is that it can collect more export fees from Laos. However, the amount of goods exported by Laos is not large, so regardless of how you calculate, this railway is a loss-making project. To really recover the cost of building the railway, it would take at least two or three decades.
Located between Laos and Vietnam, it can only hope for China, to see if China can help with loans, and let the construction company build this railway. Because neither Laos nor Vietnam has the ability to build railways. In the current situation, helping Laos and Vietnam build railways is not impossible, but it is currently not possible.
Because China is busy building the China-Laos-Thailand railway, extending further south. The originally planned China-Laos-Cambodia railway now has problems and will not be built for the time being. A branch line from Bangkok to Cambodia may be the best strategy. Laos and Vietnam lack both funds and construction capabilities, and they also lack the level of operating railways. No matter how you look at it, it's a very difficult situation.
It can only be said that it is very difficult to build or develop this railway, because for a big country, there is no profit to be made, unless there is a collateral, and very reliable collateral, otherwise it is very difficult to build this railway.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1839424582256708/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.