Four border checkpoints to be opened to all this week
Myanmar and Thai citizens, as well as foreign tourists, will be allowed to pass through four Thai-Myanmar border checkpoints, including one at Myawady, starting from Wednesday, an official said.
“We have received instructions to allow Thai citizens and foreign tourists to pass through all four border checkpoints on [Wednesday]. The remarkable thing is that Myanmar citizens with visas and passports will also be allowed to visit [Thailand] through the border crossings,” said an official from the Immigration and National Registration Department of Myanmar’s Myawady district.
The four checkpoints are Tachileik-Mae Sai, Myawady-Mae Sot, Kawthaung-Ranong and Htee Khee-Sunaron. Fines will be imposed if travellers’ visas have expired.
Foreign visitors using the border crossings can depart from Myanmar through any official gateways including Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay.
The government has amended its list of restricted areas after an improvement in rules of law and stability in the country.
Plans hatched for two new deep-sea ports
Myanmar is planning to construct another two new deep-sea ports, one on the Tanintaryi coast and one in Ayeyarwady region, according to the Myanmar Port Authority (MPA). Thailand is interested in constructing the Kalargote deep-sea port project located between Mawlamyaing and Yay on the Tanintaryi coast. Singapore is interested in investing in the Ngayokekaung deep-sea port located in Ngayokekaung Bay in Ayayarwady region.
Emerald Grand Hotel Group from Thailand and Super Axis Development Pte Ltd from Singapore have signed MoUs with the MPA this month to analyse the potential to construct deep-sea ports in Kalargote and Ngayokekaung.
The analyses will include measurement of water resistance, ground testing, the effect of wind and tide and the overall expenses to construct deep-sea ports. Ngayokekaung will have the capacity to load 50,000-tonnes of goods and Kalargote will be able to contain 30 vessels of about 50,000 tonnes, according to Chief Civil Engineer of the MPA Mya Than.
After completing the research, the MPA will decide whether the project will be conducted as a build, operate and transfer (BOT) system or a joint venture.
Industrial-zone projects are included in those two schemes, and the MPA will cooperate with Ayeyawady regional government, Mon state government and the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development to implement the two projects.
Chinese loans to cover housing project’s power bills
The Myanmar government is planning to use Chinese loans to cover the electrical-power expenditures of two major low-cost housing projects on the outskirts of Yangon, according to the Ministry of Construction.
Myanmar will borrow a total of US$9 million (Bt287 million) from Chinese EXIM Bank for the public housing and infrastructure projects, according to the government’s projections for investments in national projects and foreign loans during 2013-14. Chinese loans will be used to cover electrical-power expenses in Ayeyarwun and Yadana housing projects located in Dagon Seikkan Township, said an official from the Ministry of Construction.
Ayeyarwun project will consist of 26 buildings, each 18-storeys high. Meanwhile, 22 building of the same height will be built at the Yadana project. The two housing projects together will comprise nearly 20,000 rooms.
Shwe Taung Development Company and IGE Company will build these two housing projects separately in cooperation with the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development. Both Shwe Taung and IGE companies are well-connected local companies in Myanmar.
Myanmar’s civil housing sector is facing several challenges due to the growing population and weak infrastructures in the major cities. Soaring land prices, lack of effective regulations regarding civil-housing development, and the government’s budget constraints are causing difficulties in the sector, officials said.
