VIETNAM’S National Assembly on Wednesday approved investment for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway project, according to the Vietnam News Agency. The railway, worth US$8.37 billion, stretches from Vietnam’s northern port city Hai Phong to Lao Cai, which borders Southwest China’s Yunnan Province. Construction of the railway is scheduled to begin by the end of this year. The project is expected to be completed between 2026 and 2030, and the railway will carry both passengers and cargo, according to a feasibility report submitted to the Vietnamese National Assembly, local media reported. The main line of the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway project will stretch approximately 390.9 kilometers, with three branch lines totaling about 27.9 kilometers. The railway will pass through seven provinces and two cities, namely Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong and Hai Phong, Xinhua reported. The future line is expected to facilitate logistics for Vietnam’s manufacturing hubs, especially in the electronic sector with such companies as Samsung and Foxconn. Upon completion, the railway is expected to serve 20% of Vietnam’s population and 25.1% of its industrial areas. It will help transport exports out of Vietnam and imports of raw materials into the country and drive economic growth, local media reported. Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences pointed out that the Pan-Asia Railway is taking shape, with the China-Vietnam Railway and the China-Thailand Railway to be connected in the future. The China-Laos Railway became fully operational in December 2021. The railway has transformed Laos from a landlocked country into a land-linked hub connecting Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore, expanding the international logistics network and significantly reducing transportation costs and shipping times. The first phase of construction of the China-Thailand High-Speed Railway began in December 2017. Earlier this month, Thailand’s cabinet approved the second phase of the high-speed rail project that will connect the country with China through Laos, with completion expected in 2030. China has been the largest trading partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 16 consecutive years and ASEAN has been China’s largest trading partner for five years in a row. In 2024, bilateral trade reached 6.99 trillion yuan (US$959 billion), up 9% year-on-year, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs. (SD-Agencies) | 