Future Southeast Asia News #268

Da Nang's riverside construction boom, another proposed canal in Cambodia, Surabaya LRT study, East Coast Rail Link on track, Mindanao rail project update, Vietnam high-speed railway

Author

James Clark
June 04, 2025

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

Future Southeast Asia articles

Latest article

Da Nang and Hoi An to join forces, Japan’s Aeon Mall, Robert De Niro’s waiting (for his hotel to be built), the riverfront apartment boom, the resort coast, and would you still love Da Nang if the beach were gone?

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Recent articles

A review of the pedestrian access and interchange infrastructure of Tan Cang Station on Line 1 of the HCMC Metro, and avoiding the interchange mistakes of the Hanoi Metro.

Da Lat (Central Highlands of Vietnam), featuring a new international hotel, the greenhouse problem, the old Governor’s Palace, build too big and ask for permission later, an old military airport that would make a great park, international flights, and the proposed railway restoration.

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News

"China has set its sights on Southeast Asia with projects like industrial parks, ports, nickel-processing plants, auto factories and more. CNA series China And The Global South looks at their impact, at a time when US tariffs are causing uncertainty."

"A slowing economy, local crises and global trade tensions complicate Beijing’s approach to Asean’s most aid-dependent states, turning once bold bets into calculated moves."

🇰🇭 Cambodia

"As part of a project to beautify Sihanoukville and revamp its derelict buildings, from 2024 to May 2025, 297 projects worth $7.03 billion in Preah Sihanouk province have received in-principle approvals and tax incentives by the Special Programme to Promote Investment in Sihanoukville 2024 to support their construction, with the government hoping they will create over 53,000 new jobs."

🇮🇩 Indonesia

"Jakarta: Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), has announced that the International Conference on Infrastructure (ICI) 2025 will showcase major projects such as the Giant Sea Wall and high-speed rail to potential investors."

• Looking beyond South Jakarta (archive) [The Jakarta Post]

"While continued development of Blok M will undoubtedly enhance the area’s appeal, Governor Pramono must look beyond South Jakarta if he wants Jakarta to become a “global city” that’s on par with urban giants like Singapore, New York, London and Tokyo."

🇱🇦 Laos

🇲🇾 Malaysia

"The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, which stretches across Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Selangor, is expected to achieve 90 per cent overall completion by year-end."

Seremban Station is on the KL-JB railway line.

I wrote previously about how Penang should look to Singapore for inspiration in redeveloping the Penang Turf Club.

🇲🇲 Myanmar

🇵🇭 Philippines

"The government is pushing forward with the privatization of at least six airports nationwide, with the goal of improving public service, Department of Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said."

🇸🇬 Singapore

"Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda met Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in Singapore today, where he set out plans to double the size of ADB’s Singapore office. He also reaffirmed the bank’s $10 billion pledge to help finance the ASEAN Power Grid and underscored the importance of deeper regional cooperation as Singapore prepares to assume the ASEAN chair in 2027."

“Is there space to rethink and renegotiate our relationship with nature in a state-controlled urban environment that rests on unfeeling technologies and exploited migrant labour?”

🇹🇭 Thailand

"State enterprise plans to auction 28 prime land plots, including key Bangkok sites, over the next two years to boost revenue."

"The faltering conservation of Thailand's built cultural heritage is a quiet national crisis."

🇻🇳 Vietnam

"Vingroup and Thaco’s proposals to build the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City high-speed rail line both demand substantial state support."

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