Future Southeast Asia News [12 Nov 2025]

Java-Bali high-speed railway concept, Batam-Bintan Bridge, green corridor plan to enhance KL walkability, Bangkok Solar City, HCMC high-speed urban railway

Author

James Clark
November 12, 2025

The Future Southeast Asia Newsletter features transport and urban development news in Southeast Asia, edited by James Clark.

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There is a proposal to extend the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway to Banyuwangi in East Java. Could this form part of a Java-Bali high-speed railway?

Recent articles

Trip report for my visit to Penang in September 2025. The Penang LRT finally begins construction, historic Georgetown begins a greening and pedestrianisation project, merging old and new outside the historic UNESCO area, the Gurney Bay reclamation update, and making the same car-centric mistakes on the Andaman Island project.

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News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

"The $1.2 billion Funan Techo Canal investment project, a major national infrastructure development, has been approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) in October, bringing the total investment capital for the first 10 months of 2025 to $9.2 billion, which is a 67 percent increase from the same period last year."

🇮🇩 Indonesia

"Jakarta’s traffic paralysis, especially during bad weather, is more than just an inconvenience, it’s an economic drain as congestion slows business activity, worsens air quality and erodes productivity."

"Towards the long overdue shift from symbolism to substance."

"In a regulation signed in June, President Prabowo Subianto redefined the under-construction city of Nusantara as a “political capital”, marking a shift from former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s vision of “global green city” built to international standards to symbolize the country’s transformation by 2045."

"The 14.7-kilometer megaproject, valued between Rp15–16 trillion, promises to drastically cut travel time and boost economic integration across the Riau Islands".

Batam-Bintan Bridge

🇱🇦 Laos

🇲🇾 Malaysia

“We have identified three corridors under Warisan KL’s green connector project, covering a total of 33.7km.”

"Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link, a flagship project symbolising Belt and Road collaboration between Malaysia and China, has entered its final phase, the last 20 per cent of construction. The Chinese contractor China Communications Construction Company says it is confident that the first section of the route will be finished as scheduled in December next year."

"The Sabah state government’s decision to elevate Tawau Airport to international status, initially agreed upon in 2020, is gaining renewed attention and support as a vital component of the Madani vision and a key driver for regional economic integration."

 🇲🇲 Myanmar

🇵🇭 Philippines

"Tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan-led infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) may exit the light rail business as mounting losses from the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) continue to weigh on its portfolio."

🇸🇬 Singapore

🇹🇭 Thailand

🇹🇱 Timor-Leste

🇻🇳 Vietnam

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has published the environmental impact assessment for the 52.9 km rail line from Ben Thanh to Can Gio in Ho Chi Minh City."

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