Beijing may support the construction of a US$600 million railway between Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and Vietnam – one of four "missing links" on the 5,382-kilometer pan-Asian track between Singapore and Kunming in southern China.
A railway from Phnom Penh to Vietnam, 257 kilometers long, will cost more than US$600 million. China has reportedly affirmed it will to do whatever it can to speed up railway construction. Australia is already helping fund the construction.
The link is one of four identified by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as necessary for completion before the Singapore to Kunming Rail Link can open.
The Phnom Penh Post reports construction on a fourth link – the 129-kilometer Vietnam stretch between Loc Ninh, near the border with Cambodia, and Ho Chi Minh City – is scheduled for completion by 2020.