Women pose next to a train one day prior to the handover ceremony of the high-speed rail project linking the Chinese southwestern city of Kunming with Vientiane, Laos December 2, 2021. BANGKOK, Dec 3 — Laos is set to open a US$6 billion (RM25.4 billion) Chinese-built railway on Friday, with debt concerns balanced against hopes it could boost the reclusive nation’s struggling economy. The 414-kilometre (260-mile) route took five years to construct under China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. Analysts have acknowledged the potential economic boost, but have queried how infrastructure-poor Laos will pay its US$1.06 billion debt — and...