Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will start next year investigations of transport development in Mexico and three Middle Eastern countries, in order to create opportunities for Japanese companies’ involvement. The research in Mexico will explore three urban railway plans which are scheduled to hire contractors within 2014. In addition, the investigations of urban transport systems will be implemented In Kuwait, UAE, and Oman.

In Mexico, construction of new two railways, a 213km Mexico City-Queretaro route and a 58km Mexico City-Toluca route, are in pipeline, with investment of 360 billion yen and 280 billion yen respectively. Plus, the improvement of the 296km Yucatan Peninsula railway between Merida and Punta Venado is under consideration, which will cost 128 billion yen. Since the railways run through mountainous regions, Japanese construction companies can take advantages of their tunneling technologies in winning the contracts even in the country where Japanese companies have few experiences, a Ministry’s official said. Metro in Kuwait, Light Rail Transport System in Abu Dhabi, the UAE are also under planning. The Ministry intends to propose the optimal infrastructure development plan to Muscat, the capital of Oman, which now lacks efficient transport systems. (2013/12/19)