무산위기' 말레이 일대일로 철도사업, 中과 재개 합의 VIDEO: Malaysia to resume China-built Belt and Road rail project
Malaysia to resume China-built Belt and Road rail project
Beijing agrees to cut cost by a third to break year-long impasse
A construction site for the East Coast Rail Link project in Pahang, Malaysia. © Bloomberg
'무산위기' 말레이 일대일로 철도사업, 中과 재개 합의 사업비 18조1천억→12조1천억원으로 32% 삭감
12일 일간 더스타 등 현지 언론에 따르면 ECRL 사업을 관장하는 재무부 산하 말레이시아레일링크(MRL)와 시공사인 중국교통건설(中國交通建設·CCCC)은 이날 사업 재개를 위한 추가합의문에 서명했다. 말레이시아 총리실은 "ECRL 사업 1, 2단계 건설비용이 440억 링깃(약 12조1천억원)으로 삭감됐다는 사실을 알리게 돼 기쁘다"며 이같이 밝혔다. 총리실은 "이것은 당초 예상됐던 금액인 655억 링깃(약 18억1천억원)보다 215억 링깃(약 5조9천억원)이 줄어든 것"이라면서 추가합의문에는 설계와 조달, 시공, 초기시운전 등 영역을 망라하는 내용이 담겼다고 덧붙였다. 총리실은 이달 15일 공식 기자회견을 통해 추가합의의 구체적 내용을 공개할 예정이며, 마하티르 모하맛 말레이 총리가 직접 회견을 진행할 것으로 전망된다. 루캉(陸慷) 중국 외교부 대변인은 이날 브리핑에서 "중국은 해당 사업이 신속히 재개되길 바란다"고 말했다. 말레이반도 동서부를 잇는 철도를 건설하는 ECRL 사업은 시진핑(習近平) 중국 국가주석이 추진해 온 일대일로(一帶一路:육상·해상 실크로드) 구상의 핵심 사업 중 하나다. ECRL 1, 2단계 구간은 서부 해안 클랑 항(港)에서 동부 해안의 쿠알라 트렝가누까지다. 당초 계획은 쿠알라 트렝가누에서 역시 동부 해안에 위치한 클란탄주 툼팟까지 140㎞ 구간을 짓는 3단계 공사를 이어 할 예정이었지만, 이번 추가합의에는 관련 내용이 포함되지 않은 것으로 보인다. ECRL 사업이 완료되면 중국은 미군기지가 있는 싱가포르를 거치지 않고 중동 원유를 수송할 통로를 확보하게 된다.
작년 5월 말레이시아 총선에서 친중(親中) 성향의 전 정권을 무너뜨리고 집권한 현 집권당은 같은 해 7월 ECRL 사업에 대해 공사중지 명령을 내린 뒤 수개월에 걸쳐 재협상을 진행해 왔다. 대규모 비자금 스캔들로 부실화한 말레이 국영투자기업 1MDB의 부채문제 해결을 중국이 돕는 조건으로 전 정권이 해당 사업을 진행하기로 했으며, 이 과정에서 공사비가 상당 부분 부풀려졌다는 이유에서다. (자카르타=연합뉴스) 황철환 특파원 |
edited by kcontents
The Malaysian government said on Friday it would allow construction of a controversial Chinese railway to resume after it negotiated a cost reduction, breaking an almost year-long impasse over one of China’s highest-profile Belt and Road projects.
The announcement will come as a huge relief to China, which has been on the defensive about transparency issues and cost overruns on projects associated with President Xi Jinping’s signature effort to build out transport links across the Eurasian landmass and into Africa.
The office of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in a statement that the projected cost of the East Coast Rail Link along the Malaysian peninsula, linking Kuala Lumpur to southern Thailand, would be cut to RM44bn ($10.7bn) from RM65.5bn.
“This reduction will surely benefit Malaysia and lighten the burden on the country’s financial position,” the prime minister’s office said.
China’s foreign ministry and the state-owned China Communications Construction Company were not immediately available for comment.
“This project has been full of twists and turns,” said Xu Liping, a south-east Asia expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. “But it’s a good lesson for China that, in future, it must fully discuss and prove the feasibility of [Belt and Road] projects.”
Malaysia coast rail link.PNG/Asian Trade Centre
edited by kcontents
When Mr Mahathir’s new government suspended work on the ECRL in July last year, it projected that total costs could balloon to as much as RM81bn. The prime minister, who warned about the dangers of a “new version of colonialism” during a subsequent visit to Beijing, also cancelled two Chinese pipeline projects worth more than $1bn each.
Mr Mahathir’s 2018 election victory over Najib Razak, who cultivated close links with Beijing during his 10 years in office, resulted in an unprecedented level of scrutiny of Chinese infrastructure projects in the country.
A series of the Xi administration’s Belt and Road investments have come under scrutiny across Asia in recent years following the defeat of a number of China-friendly political leaders in elections.
In Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena beat Mahinda Rajapaksa in a presidential election in 2015 and launched a series of reviews of Beijing-led infrastructure projects on the island nation, as well as negotiating revised financial terms with Chinese state-owned enterprises, including CCCC.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the new president of the Maldives, has also pledged to review Chinese construction projects on the archipelago negotiated by his predecessor.
Such setbacks had emboldened China hawks in the Trump administration, who have been warning countries against the alleged dangers of Mr Xi’s infrastructure initiative and trying to counter it with US- and EU-backed alternatives.
At an Asia Pacific Economic Conference summit in New Guinea in November, US vice-president Mike Pence warned about “a constricting belt or a one-way road”.
Mr Xi is preparing to host a second biannual Belt and Road Initiative summit at the end of this month. The first summit, which attracted dozens of heads of state, was held in 2017.
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