Private investment allowed in Cambodia-Vietnam high speed rail

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has affirmed his government allowed the private sector to invest 100% in a new high-speed railway linking its capital Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub.

The premier made the affirmation while receiving a visiting French delegation led by Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, in Phnom Penh on January 25.

Hun Sen also encouraged the private sector to invest in the upgrading of the two existing rail lines in his country under build-operate-transfer (BOT) format, reported Cambodian news agency AKP.

The visiting French delegation decided to work with Cambodia to seek investment in high-speed rail; water, land, and air transport; construction; energy, and other sectors, Becht said, asking for Hun Sen’s recommendations on priority areas, according to AKP.

Both Vietnam and Cambodia do not have a high-speed railway. By road, the distance between Phnom Penh and HCMC is nearly 240 kilometers via Asian Highway 1 (AH1). The travel time by bus averages six hours as there are two international border gates, Moc Bai on Vietnam’s side and Bavet on Cambodia's side.

Earlier this month, Vietnam’s Railway Project Management Board estimated the total cost to build a modern railway of more than 174 km linking HCMC with Can Tho city, the Vietnamese Mekong Delta’s hub, at around $9 billion. The board said it had worked with authorities in the six provinces and cities the project would go through - HCMC, Binh Duong, Long An, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, and Can Tho.

At present, Vietnam’s North-South national railway ends in HCMC while the Mekong Delta region does not have access to railroads. The national Hanoi-HCMC railway uses a track gauge of about one meter that has been in use for more than 100 years. Therefore, there are no high-speed trains and the system is a single-track network.

Meanwhile, the proposed HCMC-Can Tho railway would be a high-speed route, using an international track gauge of 1,435 millimeters.

Cambodia also has plans to build high-speed rails in the first quarter of this year, according to Phnom Penh Post. High-speed rail could become a major link with bordering countries and promote passenger and freight transport, Cambodia Logistics Association (CLA) President Sin Chanthy was quoted by the newspaper in late December.

“It will not only promote trade with our neighbors but also attract investment and tourism inflows,” he mentioned.