A number of Japanese firms have decided to drop their plans to get involved in a high-speed rail project connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, government and company sources said Thursday.
The companies, including East Japan Railway Co., had hoped to utilize Japan's shinkansen bullet train system in the project but they have decided it will be too risky without the local government's financial support, said the sources including those at the Japanese and Malaysian governments.
The development could allow rival Chinese businesses to further solidify their footprint in infrastructure building in East Asia after they launched operations of a high-speed railway in 2023 in Indonesia and promoted the construction of another in Thailand.
Next Monday is the deadline for submitting a proposal solicited by the Malaysian government in July 2023.
The project is expected to cost 100 billion ringgit ($21 billion) but the Malaysian government intends to promote it through private financing rather than by government spending or extending debt guarantees.
