New Delhi, Aug 11 — In its push for greater connectivity with ASEAN
countries, India is focussing its attention on a deep-sea port in
southern Myanmar that would provide a much shorter sea route to the
economically vibrant Southeast Asian region and help boost trade.
The Dawei deep sea port and special economic zone is slated to give a
huge boost to connectivity and trade in the Southeast Asian region when
it is commissioned in a few years. The $8-billion project is being
developed jointly by Myanmar and Thailand.
"The Dawei deep sea port, when complete, will provide India an
alternative sea route to Southeast Asia and reduce dependency on the
congested Strait of Malacca and cut transport time," an official told
IANS.
The Dawei port is part of the southern corridor of the Mekong India
Economic Corridor. India is concentrating on the southern economic
corridor, which would connect Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Phnom Penh in
Cambodia, Bangkok in Thailand to Dawei in Myanmar.
"When Dawei port is ready, India is planning to connect it with
Chennai. There will be no need to go through the Strait of Malacca
then," said the official, unwilling to be named.
During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Thailand last May,
the Thai government invited Indian business to invest in the Dawei
Special Economic Zone, especially in areas where Indian companies have
expertise, such as steel, manufacturing, power, petrochemicals and
services.
Thailand's construction giant Italian-Thai Development Co has been
involved in construction of the deep-sea port, which is designed to
accommodate ocean-going cargo ships that pass through the Indian and
Pacific oceans, cutting short the maritime distance over a relatively
long detour via Singapore.
The Dawei Special Economic Zone Development Co, jointly owned by Thailand and Myanmar, will be assigned to run the project.
The Greater Mekong sub-region also has a North-South corridor linking
cities of the Mekong basin countries - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam - to China. But India is not keen to join this.
"That corridor cuts across to China and India is not very keen to join
it," said the official.
India is involved in the 1,400-km Trilateral Highway, linking India,
Myanmar and Thailand, that is slated to become a reality by 2016.
The highway - from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via
Myanmar - would open up India's landlocked northeast to Southeast Asia.
The project is being funded by the Asian Development Bank.
The highway is expected to allow freight and container trucks to move
across the borders from India to Myanmar and Thailand and play a
crucial role in boosting trade and investment in the three countries.
The Kalewa-Yargi section of the highway in Myanmar, which India has
offered to upgrade, is facing some problems due to the hilly terrain,
said the source.
"The major chunk of the Trilateral Highway has been completed. On the
Kalewa-Yargi section and upgradation and repairing of 71 bridges, which
India had agreed to undertake during Manmohan Singh's visit to Myanmar
in May 2012, work is on," the official added.
India and the 10-nation ASEAN countries of Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam have a combined population of 1.8 billion, which is
one-fourth of the global numbers. The combined GDP of India and the
regional bloc is around $3 trillion.
Among other connectivity projects with the bloc, India is also
helping Myanmar upgrade the 160 km Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo road, repairing
71 old bridges in Myanmar, besides building the Kaladan multi-modal
transit transport project.
The Kaladan project, expected to be completed in 2014, will connect
Kolkata port with Sittwe port in Myanmar by sea and also link Sittwe to
Mizoram via river and road transport.
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