FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
South America’s Bioceanic Railroad Moving Forward, with Nine Countries Onboard
Nov. 21, 2018 (EIRNS)—Bolivia’s Public Works Minister Milton Claros reported yesterday that, at the beginning of December, representatives of a Swiss-German consortium will be in La Paz to make a formal presentation on financing the construction of the $14 billion bioceanic railroad project, wrote Opinion.com.bo today. The rail line will extend from the Brazilian port of Santos on the Atlantic to the Peruvian port of Ilo on the Pacific.
It’s not easy to work out the financing for such a large project, Claros said, which is why the consortium has proceeded so carefully, working from very meticulous technical studies. In addition, he reported, Spain is shortly expected to make its own financing proposal, while Russia has indicated its desire to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Bolivia to join the project.
The Public Works Minister also reported, according to AméricaEconomía publication Nov. 19, that a total of nine nations have either signed Memoranda of Understanding or issued official declarations saying they wish to be part of the bioceanic corridor project. These include Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and the northern Argentine province of Jujuy.
The entire length of the bioceanic line is 3,755 km, 3,000 of which are already built, but require major rehabilitation or rebuilding. Another 755 km in parts of Peru and Bolivia must be built from scratch. On Nov. 8, the Bolivian Information Agency (ABI) reported Claros’ statement that the bioceanic project is not simply a rail line, but will also include construction of at least three megaports, one in Santos, one at Carmelo Peralta in Paraguay, and the third in Ilo. “We have to think about ports, connectivity and the logistics chain. It’s of no use to us to have an effective rail system, if we don’t also have an effective distribution of ports.” There must be a “multimodal logistics chain,” he emphasized.
