21st Century Business Herald reporter Hu Huiyin reported from Guangzhou
The Temburon Bridge straddles Brunei Bay, where the steel cable glows in the sun, creating a beautiful landscape with the surrounding lush mangroves and blue waters.
This year marks the third anniversary of the opening of the Tamburon Bridge in Brunei. The bridge is a cross-sea corridor connecting Brunei's Mora and Temburong districts, and is Brunei's transportation hub. The 21st Century Business Herald reporter learned from China State Construction, the contractor of the bridge, that the cross-sea bridge has always been free for the public, and since its opening in March 2020, it has been in good condition for traffic.
It is reported that the Temburon Bridge is about 30 kilometers long, known as "Brunei's most outstanding symbol of national modernization", it is not only the largest infrastructure project in Brunei's history, but also the world's longest fully prefabricated bridge and the longest cross-sea bridge in Southeast Asia, and the most representative flagship project of the "Belt and Road" initiative in Brunei.
In recent years, the "Belt and Road" cooperation between China and Brunei has yielded fruitful results. In addition to the Tamburon Bridge, key projects such as Mora Port, Uludu East Dam, Trise-Rumu Expressway, and the Great Mora Island Bridge have improved Brunei's local infrastructure. Xiao Jianguo, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei, said in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of Chinese state, the two sides have continuously strengthened the docking of the "Belt and Road" initiative and the global development initiative with Brunei's "2035 Vision", comprehensively promoted pragmatic cooperation in various fields, and entered the fast lane of accelerated development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, achieving gratifying results.
According to Chinese statistics, in 2022, the bilateral trade volume of Chinese reached US$3.08 billion, a record high.
Speaking of the cooperation between Chinese and two countries in recent years, Du Lan, deputy director and associate researcher of the Asia-Pacific Institute of the China Academy of International Studies, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that Chinese cooperation between the two countries has broad space, great potential and good prospects, and the current cooperation between China and Brunei has expanded from focusing on the oil and gas industry and infrastructure construction to agriculture, tourism, cultural industries and communication technology.
(Brunei Temburon Bridge towering over the sea, photo from Chinese architecture)
"New hub" on Brunei Bay
Three years ago, before the opening of the Tamburong Bridge, the beautiful town of Tamburong was like a segregated enclave due to traffic restrictions. Jin Chunshang, deputy general manager of China Construction Bridge Co., Ltd., was the project executive manager during the construction of the Temburong Bridge project, "Before the bridge was opened to traffic, the Tamburong district and Brunei Mora district were separated by sea, and a large number of people could only travel by boat or across the Malaysian border between the two places. ”
Jin Chunshang told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, "Local people take boats to take the waterway inefficiently, it takes 2 hours one way, and the risk is high, and accidents occur from time to time; If you drive through Malaysia, you need to clear customs by land, plus border inspection, goods declaration and other procedures, the whole process takes up to 4 hours. ”
The inconvenient transportation not only reduces the efficiency of people's circulation, cultural exchanges and real economic services between Brunei and Temburong District, but also affects the overall development of Tamburong District.
After the completion of the Tamburon Bridge, Brunei was connected by two separate parts of the country, eliminating the cumbersome cross-border customs clearance. In addition, the driving time between Brunei Mora and Temburong has been shortened from 2 hours to about 15 minutes. Jin Cunshang described the scene when the bridge was completed to reporters, "The local people are very happy about the completion of the cross-sea bridge, and remember that when it was first announced, the entire bridge was full of people coming and going, and they enjoyed passing on the bridge." ”
Zhou Shixin, director of the Foreign Policy Office of the Foreign Policy Research Institute of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the most direct value of the Tamburong Bridge is to facilitate the lives of local people, and from a more far-reaching perspective, the construction of the bridge has also enhanced the confidence of countries or regions including Brunei in the construction of infrastructure by Chinese-funded enterprises.
From a construction point of view, the construction of the Temburon Bridge was not an easy task. Jin Chunshang told reporters that the longest cross-sea bridge in Southeast Asia faced many difficulties during the construction process, first of all, Brunei lacked resources, most of the building materials and equipment needed for the project needed to be imported, and multiple transshipment to transport the materials to the site; Secondly, the local natural environment is not conducive to construction, and the bridge passes through the tropical primeval rainforest from the seaside mudflats, which is an undeveloped area; Third, the construction period of the project is very tight, and the main construction time is only 36 months; Most importantly, the project is located in the Temburong Environmental Protection Reserve, which the Brunei government requires to minimize the impact of the construction on the environment.
In the face of various external challenges, the contractor, China State Construction Construction formulated a project plan according to local conditions. Jin Chunshang told reporters that because the project is located in a swampy wetland, in order to minimize the impact on the environment, the construction personnel creatively adopted the "fishing method" construction process, that is, all mechanical equipment "zero landing", do not touch the swamp floor, do not destroy rainforest vegetation. It is no exaggeration to say that this is equivalent to "building a bridge over a bridge". At that time, such a large-scale "fishing method" construction was the first time in the world.
In addition to construction process innovation, the construction team also had to overcome difficulties in various processes. Jin Chunshang told reporters that the bridge pile foundation, T beam erection and other processes are completed on the "mobile steel platform", "the connection between the processes is close, if the pile foundation construction is delayed, it will lead to the interruption of the girder; If the joint construction is delayed, it will lead to the interruption of the transportation channel. All processes are interconnected and there can be no errors. ”
After many difficulties, the Tamburong Bridge project was finally successfully completed. After completion, both sides of the bridge are still lush primeval forests, and squirrels, monitor lizards and other animals can be seen foraging from time to time, and the construction of the bridge has not affected the surrounding environment.
(Both sides of the bridge are still lush primeval forests, photo from Chinese architecture)
Infrastructure construction carries new hope
What changes will the much-anticipated opening of the cross-sea bridge bring to the local area? In this regard, the local people often feel the deepest.
Local resident Kerunissa once told the media that it only takes 15 minutes to drive to the city, and daily necessities can be delivered in time, which has stimulated the development of tourism, catering, accommodation, shopping and other industries in Tamburong District. The owner of a car repair shop in the Tamburong district said that Bruneians like to travel by car, but before there was no bridge, and people who traveled between the capital and Tamburong by water could only park one car on each side of the pier, which was very troublesome and delayed. ”
The significant improvement in traffic efficiency is undoubtedly the most intuitive change after the completion of the Temburon Bridge. In addition, in response to the completion of the bridge, the Brunei government has also made a series of construction measures. Jin Chunshang told reporters that the Brunei government has successively rebuilt and built new commercial streets, built a middle school and built a new university, and integrated commercial and educational resources with the local area to build resorts and hotels, using ecological environment characteristics to attract people to visit here.
For Jin Chunshang, the Tamburong Bridge has greatly benefited the country's growing tourism industry, with Ulu Temburong National Park being a major beneficiary. Covering nearly 50,000 hectares, Temburong National Park is Brunei's first national park and is known as the "Green Jewel of Brunei". Salina, deputy director of Brunei Tourism Board, once bluntly said that the Tamburon Bridge has shortened the original distance by 70 kilometers, greatly facilitating tourists to travel to Tamburon National Park, "The opening of the bridge to traffic has effectively promoted the development of tourism and helped promote the diversification of Brunei's economy." ”
In addition to the cross-sea bridge, with the joint efforts of Chinese and two countries in recent years, a number of important infrastructure construction projects have been completed one after another, including the operation of Mora Port by a joint venture in Brunei. The project has improved the terminal's operational efficiency and service level, enhancing the regional competitiveness of the Port of Mora. Data show that in 2022, Mora Port will complete a cargo throughput of 1.5573 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 20.03%, and its operating income will double compared with 2017, becoming a new economic growth point for Brunei.
"The key projects such as the Uludu East Dam, the Trise-Rumu Expressway, and the Great Mora Island Bridge undertaken or participated in by Chinese companies have greatly improved the level of connectivity in Brunei and played a positive role in promoting Brunei's economic and social development." Duran told reporters.
Zhou Shixin also said that Brunei has always been open to the "Belt and Road" initiative, and the cooperation between the two countries is of typical significance, whether it is the key projects under the framework of the "Brunei-Guangxi Economic Corridor" - Guangxi Haisitong Fishery Co., Ltd., Hengyi Brunei Petrochemical Project, or the Chinese joint venture Mora Port Co., Ltd., which has very important enlightenment significance for other countries.
The Belt and Road Initiative is aligned with Vision 2035
In recent years, the Chinese two sides have been actively promoting the alignment of the "Belt and Road" initiative with Brunei's "Vision 2035" to explore new growth points for cooperation.
In 2008, the Brunei government put forward Vision 2035, a medium- and long-term development plan to transform the country's economy from a single structure to a diversified one. Duran said that Brunei's economy is based on the oil and gas industry, and the non-oil and gas industry is underdeveloped, and the oil and gas industry accounts for 66% of the total economy and 96% of export earnings, but it can only solve 5% of the country's labor employment. In order to maintain the sustained prosperity and sustainable development of the country's economy, Brunei's "Vision 2035" proposes to achieve sustained and diversified economic development, and strive to build itself into an ASEAN regional trade, processing and transit center with high-quality infrastructure and high-quality talents.
Wei Hongxu, a researcher at the Macroeconomic Research Center of Anbang Think Tank, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that Brunei's "2035 Vision" is to get rid of the risks caused by too much reliance on energy single industries, improve industrial capacity and infrastructure, and take tourism and science and technology as the main direction of their future development. This is in line with the win-win cooperation concept advocated by China's Belt and Road Initiative, and with the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), it is believed that bilateral economic and trade cooperation and cross-border investment will be further strengthened around related themes Chinese.
According to Chinese customs statistics, in 2022 Chinese economic and trade volume between the two countries reached US$3.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%, setting a new record high. This is a record high that Chinese trade volume has continued to exceed the US$3 billion mark after exceeding the US$2 billion mark for the first time in 2021, and has made important contributions to the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" key projects Chinese.
Speaking about the economic and trade performance of the two countries, Duran said that in the past, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Brunei was mainly based on industrial cooperation involving oil and gas development and infrastructure construction of oil and gas downstream industries. China's exports to Brunei mainly include machinery and parts, mineral products, plastics, rubber and its products, textiles and their products, etc., while China's imports from Brunei are mainly chemical products, mineral products, wood and wood products, live animals and animal products. "Chinese trade is complementary and resilient. China is Brunei's second largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment. With the entry into force of RCEP, the trade flow of goods between the two countries will be more liberalized and facilitated, and Brunei's agricultural and aquatic products exported to China will enter the Chinese market more quickly. ”
It is worth mentioning that China has become Brunei's largest source of foreign investment.
Zhou Shixin believes that Chinese-funded enterprises have brought a lot of changes to the local area, "especially the improvement of infrastructure, which has provided more convenience for local people's production and life." In addition, a large number of goods from China also enrich the lives of Bruneians. ”
Xiao Jianguo said that the results of Chinese investment cooperation are gratifying, the social and economic benefits of cooperation projects in traditional fields are good, new cooperation fields are constantly expanding, and information technology and e-commerce cooperation are in the ascendant.
In 2023, the Belt and Road Initiative will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Chinese economic and trade exchanges are becoming increasingly close, and cooperation projects are actively promoted. According to the experts interviewed, there are many areas of complementary cooperation between Chinese in the future. "This is mainly because Brunei's industrial structure is relatively simple, which requires investment and trade from many aspects." Zhou Shixin believes that there is a relatively broad space for cooperation between the two sides in many fields such as agricultural and food production, labor contracting, infrastructure, cultural tourism and physical education.
Wei Hongxu also believes that because Brunei's industrial base is weak, it belongs to a typical resource-based country and has realistic industrialization needs, which also brings many opportunities for China's capital to "go out" in the infrastructure and industrial fields. As trade and investment opportunities between the two countries increase, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries will become more frequent, which will help Brunei trade in services. He believes that the two countries will have great potential in the development of tourism cooperation.
For more information, please download 21 Finance APP