China Railway Group has won an 8.1 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) deal to build the first three sections of the China-Laos rail link.

Three subsidiaries of China Railway Group will build sections I, II, and III of the Boten-Vientiane Railway Project, which would eventually span 414 kilometers from Boten on the Laos-China border going to Vientiane, Laos' capital, on its border with Thailand in the south, the Global Construction Review reported. The project has a total of six sections. 

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China Railway Group has been given 60 months for the construction. Tthe whole railway system would cost an estimated $5.6 billion.

"The award demonstrates the group's strong capabilities with cutting edge technologies in railway, bridge, tunnel construction to win large scale and complex projects overseas," Chenyi Liu, a vice president and senior analyst at Moody's, noted.

Rating firm Moody's Investor Service gave a credit positive for the deal and supported its A3 issuer rating.  Analysts believe that this would pave the way for the company to gain more business traction in Laos. This is the first time that China Railway Group has won a railway construction project in the country.

Meanwhile, China Railway group also recently won a $3.1 billion bid to build a railway network in Bangladesh, which will connect capital Dhaka to Jessore, located in the southwestern part of the country.

The railway project also includes the development of 66 main bridges, 244 minor bridges, 14 new rail stations, and the procurement of 100 passenger coaches. The project will be under the Trans-Asia Railway project that aims to create an integrated freight railway network across Asia and Europe.

TagsLaos, china, Boten-Vientiane Railway Project, railway, China-Laos railway, China Railway Group