CREC on track for big Brazil deals

CREC workers building a railway in Venezuela. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Two projects have combined contract value of $2.6 billion

China Railway No 10 Engineering Group Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Railway Engineering Corporation, is in talks with Brazilian clients to build two big-ticket railway-related infrastructure projects with a total contract value of $2.6 billion, its executives said.

The two major projects include building a port-railway-mine complex in eastern Brazil's Bahia state and a railway infrastructure upgrading project for Brazil's Western Railway Line. Their project values are $2 billion and $600 million, respectively.

Cui Jun, deputy general manager of CREC No 10 Group, said to further optimize its business in the Latin American market, the company selected Brazil as its priority market for the long run.

The company, headquartered in Jinan, Shandong province, said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bahia state government and the China-Latin America Fund, a Chinese government fund, regarding the port-railway-mine complex project, as well as sending a team to the Bamin mine, port and railway siding in Bahia state to conduct a feasibility study. An operational plan has already been drawn up.

CREC No 10 Group's project for upgrading the Western Railway Line currently is the subject of talks with National Railway Company of Brazil. The Chinese company started a feasibility study on the project in the first half of the year.

"Growth opportunities abound in Latin America's surging demand for railways, roads and power infrastructure projects, especially in the fast-growing markets such as Brazil and Peru where the focus is on sustainable development amid urbanization and regional connectivity," said Yang Zhuo, director of CREC No 10 Group's overseas business department.

After entering the Latin American market in 2004, CREC No 10 Group has established companies in Venezuela, Brazil and Peru and begun to fund new projects through the public-private partnership model.

The PPP model is one in which a government service and private business venture is jointly funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more companies from the private sector.