China’s EXIM inks $1.5bn deal for high-speed rail in Iran
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China's CMC has undertaken to electrify the 926-km line between Tehran to Mashhad
The Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) signs a $1.5 billion deal to finance the electrification of a high-speed rail line between the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad.
EXIM’s Vice President Sun Ping and CEO of the Bank of Industry and Mine Ali Ashraf Afkhami signed the documents in Tehran on Tuesday after “16 months of intensive talks”, the Iranian official said.
The Iranian bank is about to provide government guarantees for the Chinese investment. Afkhami described the contract a "major achievement after the implementation of the JCPOA some 18 months ago."
The JCPOA stands for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear accord which Iran reached with the West and other countries to have sanctions lifted on Tehran in exchange for scaling back its nuclear program.
China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation, known as CMC, has undertaken to electrify the 926-km line from the capital to the holy city in northeast Iran in partnership with the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR).
Iran’s holding group MAPNA is a subcontractor in the project. It has signed an agreement with Germany’s Siemens for the joint manufacture of 70 electric locomotives to be used in the route.
China Railway Group Limited (CREC) is carrying out another project worth $1.8 billion for the electrification of a high-speed rail link between the cities of Tehran, Qom and Isfahan.
Sun said EXIM has so far provided loans for 26 Iranian projects in the electricity, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, oil and gas sectors, worth $9 billion.
Iran has announced plans to splurge up to $25 billion over the next 10 years in the modernization and expansion of its railway network.
Earlier this month, the country signed a deal worth 1.2 billion euros with Italy’s state railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) to build a high-speed railway between the central cities of Arak and Qom.
Under its vision plan, Iran seeks to stretch out the nationwide railroad line to 25,000 kilometers by 2025 from under 15,000 kilometers now.
EA
