By Xinhua
Yangon : Myanmar and India are in the process of finalising a river transportation project mooted during former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s state visit in March last year, local media reported Tuesday.
The Kaladam multi-modal river transportation project, which also involves the building of the Paletwa border road, will involve India extending a US $10 million line of credit.
The Kaladam project will cover upgrading of waterways along the Kaladam River and Sittway port in Western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, the Flower News said.
Once the project is formally endorsed by both sides, it will start implementation, the report said.
Besides, the project will also cover upgrading of both motor roads and waterways in those parts in northwestern Chin state to enable Indian cargo vessels along the Kaladam river in Sittway’s eastern bank to berth at Paletwa where a high-standard port is to be built through which a highway will also be built to enable access to the border area of Myeikwa in the state for commodity flow to India’s Mizoram state, the report added.
Meanwhile, proposed by India, Myanmar is also making a feasibility study to build a deep-sea port in the country’s southern coastal Tanintharyi division to facilitate maritime trade with neighbouring countries.
The prospective Dawei deep-sea port project stands one of the priorities among future programs of the seven-member Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which now comprises Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
Moreover, Myanmar is also conducting survey to build still another deep-sea port on the Maday Island in Kyaukphyu, western coastal Rakhine state, to serve as a transit trade centre for goods destined to port cities of Chittagong, Yangon and Kolkata.
Relations between Myanmar and India have been growing during the past few years with cooperation in all sectors, particularly in those of trade and economy. The Indian statistics show that Myanmar-India bilateral trade reached $650 million in the fiscal year 2006-07 which ended in March, up from $557.68 million in 2005-06.
India stands as Myanmar’s fourth largest trading partner after Thailand, China and Singapore and also Myanmar’s second largest export market after Thailand, absorbing 25 percent of its total exports.
Myanmar figures also show that India’s investment in Myanmar had reached $82.57 million in four projects as of the end of 2006, out of Myanmar’s total foreign investment of $14.4 billion since late 1988.