SEOUL: South Korea will be presenting the most suitable project cost and planning in direct talks with the Malaysian government in an effort to secure the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project.
It will also be offering technology transfer by mid-June, said its Minister of Land Infrastructure and Transportation, Kang Ho-in.
Having experience in HSR implementation, he said South Korea was willing to share its technology with other developing countries.
Kang, who is expected to lead the delegation to Malaysia, hopes that South Korea would be able to promote its prove expertise in the area to the Malaysian government, and work within the project’s budget.
“Since last year, we have been making a lot of effort in promoting our technology to Malaysia by setting up an exhibition centre in Kuala Lumpur,” he told Malaysian journalists on a familiarisation tour in Seoul.
South Korea recently emerged as a new player in the bid for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project and made a grand entry to the local scene with the showroom in Kuala Lumpur to create awareness of its experience in HSR technology.
The South Korean government has organised a consortium to work on the HSR bid and it includes Korea Railroad Corp, Korea Land & Housing Corp, Korea Rail Network Authority (KRNA), top construction companies of South Korea and South Korean maker of HSR trains, Hyundai Rotem Company.
Meanwhile, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Korea Rail Network Authority Kang Yeong Il said South Korea’s ambition to win the HSR project remained positive, despite reports that China was looking ever more likely to secure it.
He also said South Korea would not give up on its bid for the mega transportation project despite the Chinese position and would also continually bid for HSR ventures in other countries.
He also believed that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project was very similar to the Korean HSR.
South Korea first adopted the French system for its first-generation trains. It is now ranked fourth in the world to operate high-speed train technologies, after France, Germany and Japan.
In 2010, a major milestone was achieved when the first made-in-Korea bullet trains were rolled out. --BERNAMA