Myanmar in talks with Chinese consortium to build seaport
MYANMAR has been holding talks with a Chinese consortium to develop a deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu, western Rakhine state, reports Xinhua. Myanmar's Commerce Ministry and the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) are expected to come to an agreement soon on the project. The Kyaukphyu deep sea port project represents part of the economic corridor of China's Belt and Road initiative and the two countries are approaching this in a way to ensure it becomes a win-win situation, said Myanmar Minister of Commerce Than Myint. A consortium of six companies led by China's CITIC won a tender in December 2015 for the implementation of two projects - an industrial park and a deep sea port on 1,737 hectares of land, two of the three components of the Kyaukphyu special economic zone. The CITIC consortium will form joint ventures with Myanmar local enterprises for the construction and operation of the two projects. The deep sea port project consists of the MADE Island Terminal and YANBYE Island Terminal that will have 10 berths in total. It also includes the road and bridge connecting the industrial park and the deep-sea port. The deep-sea port project will be constructed in four phases, with a total construction duration of 20 years. Upon completion of the project, the expected annual capacity of the deep-sea port will be 7.8 million tons of bulk cargo and 4.9 million TEU. The CITIC consortium also comprises China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, China Merchants Holdings (International), TEDA Investment Holding, Yunnan Construction Engineering Group and also Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group.