A little known Malaysian company, Giant Consolidated Ltd, has won a US$5 billion deal to build a 220 kilometre rail link in Laos, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Department confirmed today.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is on a working visit to Laos, is scheduled to witness the signing ceremony between the Malaysian firm and the Laotian government in Vientiane today, the spokesperson added.

Giant Consolidated, a unit of Giant Group Ltd, will build an electrified double-track standard gauge railway from Savannakhet to Lao Bao, near the country’s border with Vietnam.

No further details were available and company officials could not be reached for comment.

Giant Group is based in Malaysia but incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. Late in 2008, Giant Group signed a preliminary agreement with the Laotian government to conduct a feasibility study on the railway project.

- Reuters