Ivory Coast Starts Alstom Rail Talks After Hyundai Edged Out
- France to fund entire $1.6 billion plan: transport minister
- South Korean companies were asked to exit the project
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Ivory Coast is talking to French train equipment suppliers Alstom SA and Thales SA about taking part in a 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) urban-railway project to be funded by France, pushing out South Korean manufacturers that were part of the deal.
The West African nation is about to amend an initial 2015 concession agreement for the project with a French-South Korean consortium known as STAR, and expects to sign a fresh deal with only French companies this month, Transport Minister Amadou Kone said in an interview. Talks will get underway with Alstom and Thales next week, he said.