Financial backers are being sought for the estimated US$15 billion regional rail network connecting Kunming with Singapore, according to Malaysian media reports.

China and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are both being eyed as potential financiers for the project, according to statements made by Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz today during a visit to China.

Mrs Rafidah said the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation Council was currently working out the financial side of the 5,000-kilometer regional rail network which will link Kunming and other cities in Yunnan with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Malaysia is acting as project coordinator for a feasibility study of the rail network, which has a target completion date of 2015, although it is still unclear whether this is an attainable goal.

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