“A decades-old plan to build a bridge linking Malacca in Malaysia and Riau in Indonesia has been revived as the Malaccan state government moves to kick-start an economic feasibility study on the project [in 2026].”
“Malacca Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh said on Dec. 11 that the state had spent around 500,000 ringgit (US$122,579) for a consulting firm to assess the project’s effectiveness and ‘ability to change the economic landscape’, according to Malaysian state news agency Bernama.”
“The plan involves building a bridge from Pengkalan Balak Beach in Malacca’s coastal town of Masjid Tanah, where an industrial estate is currently under construction, to Rupat Island in Riau, with an expressway connecting to Dumai.”
“The closest points between the neighboring countries are at a distance of just 47.4 kilometers across the Malacca Strait, according to Yusoh.”
See also: The Melaka-Dumai Project – Between The Bridge and The Trap
“Mahathir saw what the public had overlooked. The Melaka Gateway was not about the interests of the Malaysian people, but rather the solution to the ‘Malacca Dilemma’ that plagued China. This was Beijing’s strategic nightmare; 80 percent of its oil imports had to pass through the narrow, 2.8-kilometer-wide strait. This passage was highly vulnerable to blockade by the US Navy if a conflict erupted in Taiwan.”
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/12/30/the-melaka-dumai-project-between-the-bridge-and-the-trap/