Agency AFP reported on Aug. 20 about an interesting event, which has great significance for further development of South-East Asia. Ministers of China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Burma have agreed to connect their rail networks and the creation of the railway system, which connects more than 300 million people living in the basin of one of the world's largest rivers – the Mekong. Today, the railway system in these countries are not connected with each another, with the exception of the branch, which runs in China and Vietnam. In Laos, the railway network does not yet exist. Planned four options for the rail network macro-region, the most viable of which is considered Construction of the railway from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and then to , then – to Hanoi and Kunming and Nanning in southern China. In most parts of the territory or the railways have already laid, or are under construction. Railway communication between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh is still lacking.
Its creation is estimated at 1.09 billion dollars. Improvement of existing lines require an additional seven billion dollars. Experts estimate that in 2025 the combined network will carry 3.2 billion passengers and 23 million tons of cargo annually. No, 'Innovation and Nanotechnology', so beloved by Russian officials here. Sincerely interested in the development of East Asian macro-region, the leaders of six countries of Southeast Asia have chosen a time-tested mechanism for regional development, based on the construction of railways and expansion of existing rail networks. Modern technology of railroad construction, track facilities and modern rolling stock, combined into a transnational network, the locomotive will pull for a road construction, industrial and infrastructure. Recall that a similar path of development of the eastern suburbs at the turn of XIX – XX centuries. was applied in the Russian Empire. Then the creation of Trans-Siberian Railway has led to urban growth, infrastructure development in Siberia and the Far East and brought to Russia in Asia, making it to the top of the Russian-Japanese war, one of the key players in the Far East, Korea and China.