中國勢頭亮點......鐵路項目，進攻海外市場

A few weeks ago the Yomiuri News on-line reported the following:

中国勢などと火花…鉄道事業、海外市場に攻勢

2015年03月09日 07時47分

　日本の鉄道事業の海外展開が本格化してきた。官民合同で新幹線をインドなどに売り込んでいるほか、個々の企業も鉄道プロジェクトの受注に成功している。

　安全性の高さや効率的な運行が日本の強みだが、中国勢などライバルの攻勢も激しく、世界市場を奪い合う競争は熱を帯びている。

　インドのニューデリーで２月２８日、インド政府関係者ら約２００人を前に、ＪＲ東日本の深沢祐二副社長が「完成後の維持や補修にかかる中長期的な費用を抑えることができる」と新幹線をアピールした。国土交通省が各国で開催する「高速鉄道セミナー」の一幕だ。

　日印両政府は、西部ムンバイ―アーメダバード（約５００キロ）で、新幹線導入に向けた共同事業化調査を行っている。７月までにまとまる報告書をふまえ、インド政府が判断する。

　マレーシアとシンガポールを結ぶ高速鉄道計画（約３３０キロ）は、年内に国際入札が行われる予定だ。１月下旬、シンガポールの高級ホテルで、同国のテオ上級国務大臣は西村明宏国土交通副大臣に「新幹線には信頼を置いている」と語った。西村氏は「開業から死者を出していない安全性は十分浸透している」と手応えを感じている。

　両計画は共に総工費が１兆円を超える大規模事業で、受注できれば、台湾以来、２例目の新幹線輸出になる。政府は２０１３年の成長戦略で、インフラ関連輸出を２０年までに３倍の３０兆円に増やす目標を掲げた。新幹線を含め鉄道は柱の一つだ。

(試譯文)

Overseas developments of Japanese railway business had gone into full swing. Officials and private companies were joining efforts in selling the Shinkansen to India; individual enterprises were also successful in receiving order for railroad projects.

  The high safety and efficient operation were the advantage of Japan, but competitions from China and others were also intense, and the struggle to scramble for a global market was heating up.

 On February 28 in New Delhi of India, in front of about 200 Indian administration officials, vice President Yuji Fukazawa of JR East appealed for the Shinkansen in saying that "we can suppress the medium and long-term cost requirement on repair and maintenance after completion". This was one of the scenes on "rapid transit railway seminar" organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in overseas countries.

  The governments of Japan and India formed a joint operation to investigate the introduction of a Shinkansen to Munbai-Ahmedabad (about 500 kilometers) in the west. The Indian government would make judgments based on a report to be gathered in July.

  Malaysia and Singapore together jointly planned a rapid transit railway (about 330 kilometers) and would bid in an international tender to be held within the year. At the end of January in a Singapore first-class hotel, Theo the senior Minister of State of the same country told Akihiro Nishimura, the National traffic vice minister, that "trust was put in the Shinkansen". Mr. Nishimura in response said that “safety has permeated thoroughly so that there would be no fatal accidents after the operation".

  It was a large-scale business with a total construction cost exceeding 1,000,000 million yen. And if an order was received, it would be the second example following the exportation of the Shinkansen to Taiwan. In its growth strategy in 2013, the government set the target to increase infrastructure related export to be tripled to become 30,000,000 million yen by 2020. Railroad, including the Shinkansen, was a major component.

It is interesting to note the competition between Japan and China in seeking railroad building projects overseas.