Brazil gives go-ahead to the construction of the railroad Transoceanic
- 22/03/2017 18.25
- La Paz
Agency DPA
Evo Morales: Railroad Transoceanic will be the Panama Canal of the 21st century
In a technical meeting on Wednesday (22) in La Paz, Brazil gave the green light to the construction project of the bi-oceanic railway, also known as Railroad Transoceanic, with funding from Germany and Switzerland, which will benefit the five southern nations trade -americanas: Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. The information is the German DPA news agency.
"Brazil is interested and willing [to take part] of this collective effort to reach Asian markets and take advantage of the railway line that reaches Corumbá [Brazilian side] and Puerto Suárez [in Bolivia]," said the Economic Affairs Coordinator for América do Sul the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, João Carlos Castro Parkinson's.
He stressed that it is important to establish agreements "customs harmonization" so there is a fluid movement of trains in Brazil-Bolivia-Peru route.
rail
The Bolivian Minister of Public Works, Milton Claros, welcomed the accession of Brazil. "We are on track," Bright said, at the first technical meeting held today in the Bolivian Foreign Ministry with the participation of representatives from Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, and the Inter-American Desenvolimento (BID ) and the Andean Development Corporation (ADC).
The German deputy minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Rainer Bomba, confirmed that about 30 German and Swiss companies are interested in financing and building the Railway Corridor Central Bioceanic, the official name of a railway line that would have 3750 km long when completed . "This is a tremendous project. Now we define the investment objectives for its construction," said Bomba.
Panama Canal
Rainer Bomba and Milton Claros signed a memorandum of understanding to consolidate the Bi-Oceanic Corridor, an act which attended the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales. "We are convinced that the bi-oceanic train between Brazil, Bolivia and Peru will be the 21st Century Panama Canal," Morales said.
The railroad that will link the Atlantic to the Pacific would begin on the coast of Brazil, would cross the Amazon jungle and the Andes and end in the Peruvian coast, after spending peel Bolivia.
The Bolivian government strong focus in this work because they want to avoid the use of the Northern ports of Chile, a country with which it maintains a historical dispute by a sovereign outlet to the sea.
The Bolivian government strong focus in this work because they want to avoid the use of the Northern ports of Chile, a country with which it maintains a historical dispute by a sovereign outlet to the sea.
The route would include the Santos-Campo Grande stretches (in Brazil), Puerto Suárez (Bolivia) and Ilo (Peru) and its cost is estimated at about $ 14 billion, according to the technical study made by Bolivia.
new corridors
The bi-oceanic railway project of President Morales was presented a year ago Rainer Bomba on this first visit to La Paz, accompanied by German businessmen.
Morales is committed to open new export corridors for Bolivian products, currently out of the country through the northern ports of Chile. About 80% of Bolivian exports go out by the Chilean port of Arica.
The bi-oceanic train could also benefit other countries because the Bolivian city of Puerto Quijarro serve as liaison point between a future Paraguay-Paraná and the railroad to export from Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina by the Pacific Ocean.
The meeting in La Paz did not count on the participation of Peru's vice president and Transport Minister, Martín Vizcarra, who is attending the emergency in his country because of flooding, represented by his chief of staff, Carlos Estremadoyro.
