말레이시아, 중국 참여 22조원 규모 '동해안 철도' 건설계획 중단 Malaysia scraps China-backed East Coast Rail Link plan over price
Malaysia scraps China-backed East Coast Rail Link plan over price
Economy minister Azmin Ali admitted the government could not afford hefty interest rates demanded by high-profile ‘Belt and Road’ project
Official insisted Kuala Lumpur would ‘still welcome all forms of investment from China’, but consider them on a ‘case-by-case basis’
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 26 January, 2019, 12:08pm
Bhavan Jaipragas
Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link/ZoologiMY on Twitter
말레이시아, 중국 참여 22조원 규모 '동해안 철도' 건설계획 중단 높은 금리 차관 말레이시아 국가 재정 압박 다음주 공식 발표 싱가포르-말레이지아 고속철(HSR) 건설도 연기 모하메드 아즈민 알리 말레이시아 경제장관은 26일 말레이시아가 중국 교통건설과 공동으로 추진해온 '동해안 철도계획'의 중단을 정식 결정했다고 26일(현지시간) 블룸버그 통신이 보도했다. 림관엉 재무장관은 아즈민 장관의 발언은 확인하지 않았지만 마하티르 모하마드 총리가 다음주 이에 대해 공식 발표할 것이라고 밝혔다. 아즈민 장관은 중국으로부터 높은 금리로 도입한 차관이 말레이시아 국가 재정을 압박하고 있다며 건설이 중단되지 않으면 말레이시아는 매년 5억 링깃(약 1359억원)의 이자를 부담해야 한다고 말했다. 아즈민은 그러나 철도 건설이 중단된다 하더라도 중국과의 관계는 위협받지 않아야 한다고 덧붙였다. 그는 이어 사업 중단에 대한 배상 규모는 재무부에 의해 결정될 것이라고 말했다. 동해안 철도계획은 나집 라작 전 총리가 집권 중이던 2016년 10월부터 추진돼온 말레이 반도를 횡단하는 길이 688.3㎞, 총공사비 810억 링깃(약 22조126억원)에 달하는 대규모 사업으로 중국 정부가 추진하는 '일대일로' 사업에서 중요한 부분을 차지하고 있어 이를 중단하기로 함에 따라 중국에 타격이 불가피하다. 【서울=뉴시스】유세진 기자 dbtpwls@newsis.com 싱가포르-말레이지아 고속철(HSR), 연기 합의서 서명 Malaysia, Singapore have agreed to defer HSR project, confirms Azmin https://conpaper.tistory.com/70983 |
edited by kcontents
Malaysia’s government has decided to cancel a US$20 billion rail project being built and financed by China after failed attempts to lower the price, a minister said on Saturday, ending months of speculation about the future of the controversial project.
Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s government made the decision to scrap the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) at a cabinet meeting this week.
The minister’s comments on Saturday – a recording of which was made available to This Week in Asia – are the clearest indication yet that the Malaysian government has reached a final decision on the 688km rail link after expressing an interest in cancelling the project last May.
Saturday’s comments contrasted with the previous pronouncements of Malaysian officials, including Mahathir, who had hedged their positions by suggesting the project could still continue even though they preferred for it to be axed.
There also appears to be differences within the cabinet on the matter, as Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng reacted to Azmin’s comments by suggesting the decision was not final.
Two separate sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed that Azmin had expressed the government’s final position: that the existing contract with CCCC would be terminated.
The decision is likely to mean Malaysia will incur a cancellation penalty, the sources said.
A September 2017 photo of Malaysia’s former prime minster Najib Razak at the launch of the ECRL project in Kuantan. Photo: AP
Azmin said in the end, the project was just too expensive for the government, which was left with huge debts after taking over from the scandal-tainted administration of former prime minister Najib Razak last year.
“The cabinet decided to scrap the project because the cost of development is too high, and we do not have the financial capability at the moment,” Azmin told reporters, according to a recording released by his office.
“If this project is not cancelled, the interest that will need to be paid by the government is almost half a billion ringgit (US$121 million),” he said. “We cannot bear this right now, therefore the project needs to be cancelled without affecting our good relations with China. We still welcome all forms of investment from China but we will look into the matter on a case-by-case basis.”
When the project was awarded to CCCC in 2016 by Mahathir’s now-deposed predecessor, observers hailed it as one of the cornerstones of President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative”.
The issue has been in the spotlight since several news reports – citing anonymous sources – said the closely watched project had been axed.
However, government officials including Mahathir and Lim, the finance minister, refused to confirm if it had.
Upon his shock election victory in May last year, the 93-year-old prime minister identified the ECRL as one of several big-ticket China-linked infrastructure projects he planned to cancel because he felt they were too expensive and unnecessary.
As negotiations stretched on, Mahathir in early January suggested the project could carry on, if on a much smaller scale.
That plan failed, judging by Azmin’s confirmation of the cancellation on Saturday.
Najib, who offered the project without tender, has repeatedly said the Mahathir government would be making a mistake by cancelling the deal.
We cannot bear this right now, therefore the project needs to be cancelled without affecting our good relations with ChinaAZMIN ALI, MALAYSIA’S MINISTER OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
He has challenged Mahathir to make public the terms of the contract, which he says are favourable.
According to the former leader, the terms offered by the Chinese Export-Import Bank are highly competitive, with an interest rate of 3.25 per cent protected from exchange rate fluctuations and a seven-year deferment on payments.
Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan bloc believes Najib, now facing dozens of criminal charges for his alleged role in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, endorsed Beijing-linked projects because of his enthusiasm to move the country closer to the Asian superpower.
Chinese companies bought assets from the 1MDB state fund in 2015 as the extent of its losses – allegedly through plunder – were made public.
Reviewing Chinese-linked projects was one of 10 things Mahathir’s government promised to do within the first 100 days of coming to power last year.
Following his meeting with Xi in Beijing last year, Mahathir said he had the assent of the Chinese government to review the projects, which he said Xi understood Malaysia needed to do.
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2183743/malaysia-scraps-chinas-expensive-east-coast-rail-link-plan
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