» 12/23/2011 13:10 MYANMAR – INDIA – THAILAND Port project renews political-economic relations between India and Myanmar Delhi will build new port facilities in Sittwe, in western Myanmar on the Andaman Sea. For Nayipydaw, it is a step to step out from China’s shadow. Even though Beijing remains Burma’s main tradition partner, the country is opening up to new investors, like Thailand, which is into oil exploration.
Yangon (AsiaNews) – As a token for stronger economic and trading relations between India and Myanmar, New Delhi will finance the construction of a big port in the Burmese city of Sittwe, capital of the State of Rakhine, in the west of the country. The new facility will be built by 2013, on the Andaman Sea, at a cost of US$ 136 million. Essar Projects (India) Ltd, India’s leading engineering, procurement and construction company, will be in charge of the project and work with local companies. This will provide Burma with a new port and two jetties close to its western border with Bangladesh.
For Myanmar, the new structure is much more than a port; it marks the beginning of a new era in political and economic relations between the two countries. Hitherto, the former Burma had focused on its ties with China, which remains its main partner and investor, with billions of dollars in projects.
Recently, the Burmese government has tried to move away from overreliance on China, as evinced by its decision to stop building the Myitsone dam, in Kachin territory, opening the door to new investors from India, Thailand and Singapore.
The recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could also bring an end to Western sanctions and open up ew possibilities for further economic initiatives.
The new port in Sittwe would allow the Indian government to counterbalance Chinese plans to bring oil and gas from the Burmese coast to the Chinese province of Yunnan, Radio Free Asia reports.
During the recent meeting in Delhi between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Burmese President Thein Sein, the latter decided to grant India a piece of Burma’s huge gas fields off Sittwe, where China is already the dominant player. The Indian prime minister responded with a US$ 500 million line of credit to Burma.
Thailand is also looking at Myanmar as a potential economic partner. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently visited Nayipydaw and Yangon, where she met Burmese President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is in the capital to complete the registration of her party.
A mission by Thai PM’s brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister himself convicted at home on corruption charges, preceded the Thai leader’s trip to Myanmar. His presence in the country cannot be seen as mere coincidence.
Thailand’s giant PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has won bids for two onshore petroleum blocks in Myanmar, and Thai companies are leading a US$ 4 billion-project in Dawei, in Myanmar's south, to build a port and an economic zone with power plants and related infrastructure.
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