Mizzima
The Myanmar junta is in negotiations with Russia to build a deep-sea port in southern Myanmar, the junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, said in an interview with the Russian ITAR-TASS Media.
He said: “We are implementing a project that will enable vessels of more than 200,000 tons deadweight to dock at the port.”
Though he referred to the project being built in southern Myanmar during the interview, Min Aung Hlaing gave no further details.
Previously, at the 4th Russia-Myanmar Economic Forum held in Moscow on 27 January 2024, the junta Minister of Investment and Foreign Relations, Dr. Kan Zaw, said that the junta would ensure that Russian investors and their investments were fully protected.
On 14 September 2023, Russia also said that it was closely cooperating with Myanmar in trade and the economic, cultural and educational sectors.
Though Min Aung Hlaing gave no further details about Russian investment in a deep-sea port, currently, the junta is building two deep-sea ports.
One is at the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. Another is also planned for the Dawei SEZ in Tanintharyi Region. Currently, construction there is suspended, though the junta says it plans to start construction again soon.
In early 2024 the junta deputy chief, Vice-Senior General Soe Win, urged officials to speed up the building of the Kyaukphyu and Dawei SEZ mega-projects.
The Chinese company, China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC), is currently constructing the Kyaukphyu SEZ.
Originally, the Dawei SEZ was going to be built by the Thai company Italian-Thai. Construction was started in 2008 but is currently suspended for various reasons and little work has been done to develop the SEZ.
The current Thai government has an interest in seeing the Dawei SEZ constructed as it is working on an Eastern Economic Corridor with an SEZ in eastern Thailand that the Thais want to connect with the Dawei SEZ.
It is planned to build the Dawei SEZ in two parts. The first part, on a 27-square-mile plot, will include the deep-sea port, an industrial zone, an electric power station, and an LNG terminal as part of its construction. It is estimated that the cost to build the first part of the Dawei SEZ will be about one billion US dollars.
Also in the interview with ITAR-TASS Media, Min Aung Hlaing claimed that the junta was struggling hard to make sure Myanmar economy recovers from its decline, which he claimed was caused by economic mismanagement by the previous National League for Democracy (NLD) government, rather than the junta dragging the country into an unsustainable civil war.
