China-Thailand Railway to bring enormous business opportunities
DAI CHUAN
According to the Thai Ministry of Transport, the China-Thailand Rail-way Cooperation Project will break ground on December 19. After the groundbreaking ceremony the Lao section of the China-Laos Railway is expected to start construction this month, and the Kunyang-Yuxi section in China will be ready for integrated commissioning and testing during the second half of 2016. Before or after 2020, Yunnan, Laos and Thailand will be interconnected by rail.
This series of good news greatly inspired Yunnan entrepreneurs attend-ing the 2015 Thailand-China Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum. There, they are discussing what can be transported when the China-Thai-land Railway opens to traffic.
The China-Thailand Railway will greatly facilitate the industrial inter-connection among China, Laos and Thailand, said Chen Jiaxiong, Chair-man of Kunming Unified Biotechnol-ogy Company. When interviewed at the Forum, Chen said that the trains on the China-Thailand Railway will not necessarily transport fresh cut flowers, but there will surely be more value-added flower products.
How can we make Yunnan flowers directly available to more consumers? According to Chen Jiax-iong, Yunnan need to step up the de-velopment of the floriculture industry, which is closely related to fresh cut flowers. Yunnan must not just export primary products, but should also en-hance the product value through cul-ture and creativity. The China-Thai-land Railway will provide a more convenient and affordable means of transport facilitating this end. In the future, flower cakes, flower tea and deep-processed flower products such as incense, essences and essential oils will be transported to Thailand through the China-Thai Railway be-fore being sold all over the world.
According to Zheng Yike, vice president of the Yunnan-Taiwan-ASE-AN Cultural and Trade Promotion Association in Thailand, the demand for electric vehicles from the Thai tourism market is huge. With its unique geographical position, Yunnan will enjoy unparalleled advantages in the export of such vehicles. Currently, China is exporting electric vehicles to India, Pakistan, Turkey and other countries.
As is learnt, Yunnan-made electric vehicles went into production in Kun-ming in late 2014, and leading electric vehicle brands such as BYD have long begun to make their presence felt in the Yunnan market.With the open-ing of the China-ThailandRailway in the future, Yunnan-made electric vehicles will certainly be exported to South and Southeast Asia.
According to reports, the Chi-na-Thailand Railway Project will be a double-track railway project covering a total length of 867 kilo-metres.The design speed is about 180 kilometres per hour.The project will consist of four lines, namely the Kaeng Khoi-Bangkok line, the Kaeng Khoi-MapTa Phut line, the Khor-at-Kaeng Khoi line and the Khor-at-Nong Khai line. We hope that the China-Thailand Railway will bring more and better products to Thailand, and Thai consumers will have a new perception of Chinese products, said a Thai entrepreneur. He added that over the past few years, many Chinese brands have actually won increasing recognition in Thailand, and Chinas high-speed rail technol-ogy is especially praiseworthy. The entrepreneur also expressed his hope that the China-Thailand Railway will bring more high-tech products to Thai consumers.
Accordingly, the Chinese section of the China-Laos Railway is pro-gressing smoothly. The construction of the Kunyang-Yuxi section is in full swing, with girder erection, track laying and tunnel digging occurring simultaneously. The Yuxi-Mohan sec-tion is also under construction.
