Dawei port at the centre of cooperation between Bangkok and Naypyidaw
Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Thailand and Myanmar agreed yesterday to set up a joint committee to follow up on economic cooperation that includes linking Myanmar's future Dawei deep-sea port with the Thai Eastern Seaboard. The deal came at the end of talks between Myanmar President Thein Sein, who began a three-day visit on Sunday, and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Government House in Bangkok.
The two sides signed three memoranda of understanding and renewed their cooperation in the fight against the illegal drugs trade. However, they did not address the issue of human rights in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), nor the tragic exodus of ethnic Rohingya, a minority that suffers from systematic discrimination and the lack of citizenship in Myanmar. Many of them have fled by sea and have become boat people in Thai waters where they have been denied refugee status.
The Thailand-Myanmar ministerial-level committee will meet next month to sort out pending issues and expand activities in the development of the Dawei special economic zone, where a US$ 8 billion trading and industrial hub is currently under construction, a project especially important for Thailand.
After a 90-minute talk, the two leaders inked three memoranda of understanding. One reaffirms the Thai-Myanmar obligations to kick-start the comprehensive development of the Dawei economic zone and deep-sea port. The second involves economic cooperation in support of Myanmar's human resources development, capacity-building for Myanmar's ASEAN chairmanship in 2014, and infrastructure development inside the country. The third covers a deal to set up an energy forum to explore further cooperation.
Thai PM Shinawatra also said Thailand would support Myanmar's rice industry and take care of Myanmar migrant labourers in a just manner in accordance with Thai laws.
Dawei, in southern Myanmar, is a key project for Thailand's economy, especially trade, more than for Myanmar, because it would cut travel time to the West for Thai goods (as well as goods from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam), allowing ships from the Indian Ocean to bypass the Malacca Straits.
The Dawei development project is headed by Ital-Thai, the largest contractor in Thailand, and could cost nearly US$ 60 billion before final completion. It would include a 250-square kilometre industrial area with a steel mill, petrochemical plant and oil refinery
However, the project is opposed by environmental groups and local populations. The latter would be forced to abandon their villages and traditional sources of income, fishing and farming.
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