S. Puspadevi
The Star/Asia News Network
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2014
South Korea is keen to bid for the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail link project that will cut travel time between the two nations to 90 minutes.
Republic of Korea to Malaysia ambassador Cho Byung Jae said the interest was expressed by a South Korean delegation in a meeting with the Land Public Transport Commission a month ago.
"We want to be considered a serious contender for the project. We expect to see a clearer picture next year when things are more finalised and we can start bidding," said Cho after a forum on Furthering the Look East Policy with Industrial Cooperation between Malaysia, South Korea and ASEAN.
Cho said South Korea had been in the high-speed rail operations for two decades and it ranked fourth in terms of speed at 430km per hour after France, Japan and China.
"We are confident that we can compete in terms of locomotive control systems. Companies like Hyundai Rotem, Samsung and LG, among others, are experts in the locomotive industry, enabling us to form a consortium to bid for the project," he said.
He said many local and international companies were eyeing for project, which is expected to cost 40 billion ringgit (S$15.5 billion).
Meanwhile, on the Look East Policy, Cho said Malaysia was collaborating with South Korea to further map out the second phase, focusing on trade, investment and high-level technological cooperation.
"The prime minister has mentioned several core elements for the second phase and the need for inter-governmental cooperation to make it more viable.
"This can be a real plus for Malaysia's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and South Korea's creative economy, which will be a win-win situation for both parties," he said, adding that last year, South Korea's approved investments in Malaysia's manufacturing sector amounted to US$1.7 billion (S$2.2 billion).
- See more at: http://business.asiaone.com/news/s-k....UY6NfoW5.dpuf
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