Other Special Economic Zones
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
"The Thilawa Special Economic Zone - located on the outskirts of Yangon - is the first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to be built in Myanmar, and will be fully (commercially) operational within 2015. Inside Thilawa SEZ, (where) both (the) hard and soft infrastructure - from roads and utilities to supporting services such as maintenance - will be developed up to the international standard...".....
"Demand for Thilawa SEZ land tremendously increased...
Thilawa Management Committee provides students from Project Affected Households and other Project Affected Persons (other family members) with assistance...
Local initial public offering of Thilawa SEZ Public Company completed successfully...
Jobs open up for Project Affected Persons (PAPs)...
Three Japanese industrial biggies will launch special economic zone in Myanmar.....
Latest Download:
Environmental Impact Assessment.pdf...
Basic facts about Thilawa SEZ development (Myanmar version) PDF...
Resettlement Work Plan PDF...
Myanmar SEZ Law PDF.
Source/publisher:
http://myanmarthilawa.com/
Date of entry/update:
2014-12-02
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
English
more
Individual Documents
Description:
"China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar on Monday on a critical two-day visit. It is intended to further strengthen Chinese influence in the country, in light of the changing international dynamics in the region, amid fears that China's sway is beginning to wane.
Beijing is increasingly concerned with a plethora of issues, including recent Indian and Japanese initiatives with Myanmar, which Beijing fears may prove to be to their detriment, but also to take stock of the continued economic cooperation, strengthen its support for the peace process and to boost China's support for Myanmar's battle to control the Covid pandemic. Mr Wang's primary purpose on this visit is to show China's unswerving support for the country and its civilian leader, the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi -- and to congratulate the National League for Democracy (NLD) on its landslide electoral victory. He will be the first international diplomat to visit Nay Pyi Taw in person since the elections last November.
The visit seems to have been arranged at short notice -- and tagged onto Mr Wang's current trip to Africa. It is low-key and being handled discreetly, according to Myanmar government sources. Foreign diplomats believe this may reflect some discomfort on the part of Nay Pyi Taw at the visit, and what is seen as "vaccine diplomacy"..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A long-running war and COVID-19 muddle development in Kyaukphyu, Myanmar.
Description:
"Kyi Kyi Hnin sits beneath a fan on a bright morning in her village along the coast of Kyaukphyu, a township in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
“The government just signs laws, but they are committing violations,” she says. “The government should consider the communities’ desires and interests.”
Kyi Kyi Hnin is a local community organizer and her speech is quick and resolute: She knows the challenges facing Kyaukphyu and spends her days working to support local residents. Kyaukphyu is home to a cluster of busy fishing towns and villages. But in the past few years, the township has been thrown into the center of geopolitics, armed conflict and, more recently, Myanmar’s struggle against COVID-19.
For months, the country recorded relatively few cases of the virus, until a new outbreak began in August with Rakhine at the epicenter. After the state capital, Sittwe, Kyaukphyu has recorded the most cases of any township in Rakhine for much of the outbreak..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2020-12-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar will implement a Special Economic Zone project in Mon State and West Yangon Industrial Park project, said Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Thaung Tun during a Myanmar-Japan Investment Dialogue held via video conference on July 29.
The special economic zone in Mon State, the largest in Myanmar, will connect both the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and the Thilawa SEZ to Da Nang in Vietnam via the Greater Mekong Sub-Region East-West Economic Corridor, he said, according to the Facebook page of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations.
Regarding the location of the new SEZ, Deputy Minister Set Aung explained how the new SEZ will be located in an area that can be easily connected to the Greater Mekong Sub-Region East-West Economic Corridor, in an area that would permit the construction of a deep-sea port and that could be easily connected to the Thilawa SEZ through the local transport networks.
The new SEZ and Thilawa SEZ could be connected as a single SEZ, he added.
To assist with location selection, an international advisory firm will also help prepare a feasibility study and master plan in a transparent manner.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in her keynote address via a video clip highlighted the role of Japanese investment in enabling the creation of thousands of well-paid quality jobs, and that quality job creation would remain at the heart of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan..."
Source/publisher:
Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-07-31
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"In the meetings, President Xi focussed on three main projects under the Belt and Initiative and part of the CMEC (China-Myanmar Economic Corridor). These were the New Yangon Project, the Kyaukpyu Deep Sea Port with the SEZ (the latter only to sweeten the deal and keep the Myanmar side interested) and the China-Myanmar Border Cooperation Zone.
China in the mean time had already completed an oil pipeline project from Kunming to Kyaukpyu and also a gas pipe line between the two ports. The Gas pipe line was started in 2013 and the Oil Pipe line started functioning fro April 2017. The projects were rushed through despite local objections.
The Gas and Oil pipe lines together with the Kyaukpyu deep sea port are ostensibly meant to develop the south western hinterland of China, but the real reasons were strategic. The Port would help China avoid the vulnerable straits of Malacca. The ongoing spat with United States and the countries in the region looking for strategic alliances like India with Australia, the need for an alternate route for safety and security of supplies to the Chinese hinterland has become critical to China.
While the Chinese side initially pushed for a large project with an investment of over 7 Billion Dollars, the Myanmar side in its negotiations reduced the project to 1.3 billion and also increased Myanmar’s stake in the project to 30 percent. Even this amount is too big a sum for Myanmar and there were always fears that Myanmar by borrowing from Chinese Banks may get into a debt trap as it happened to Sri Lanka vis a vis Hambantota.
While the deep Sea Port will only help China and not Myanmar, the deal was sweetened with a parallel project of a special economic Zone for which the stakes for the two sides are yet to be finalised.
At that point of time, Myanmar was not aware of the possible spread of the deadly Virus unleashed by China. With the rapid spread of the Virus in other countries and the possibility of its economy being very adversely affected, Myanmar launched an Economy Relief Plan on April 27, 2020. It was an effort to meet the exigencies that surfaced in Myanmar after the Covid-19 (Wuhan Virus) was officially (though delayed) declared by WHO.
The Plan consisted of 7 objectives or Goals, 10 Strategies, 30 Action Plans, and 76 Actions. Without going into full details of all actions contemplated we shall restrict ourselves to the seven goals. These included..."
Source/publisher:
"Sri Lanka Guardian" (Sri Lankan)
Date of publication:
2020-06-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
casinos, China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs, Colonel Chit Thu, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Development, Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN), Karen State, Karen State Border Guard Force, Land Rights, Myanmar Yatai Company, Myanmar Yatai Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone, Myawaddy, Shwe Kokko, U Tin Myint, Yatai International Holding Group (IHG)
Topic:
casinos, China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs, Colonel Chit Thu, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Development, Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN), Karen State, Karen State Border Guard Force, Land Rights, Myanmar Yatai Company, Myanmar Yatai Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone, Myawaddy, Shwe Kokko, U Tin Myint, Yatai International Holding Group (IHG)
Description:
"The Myanmar government has formed a tribunal to investigate irregularities surrounding a controversial China-backed city development project near the Thai border in Karen State.
The planned mega resort and city expansion project is controlled by the Karen State Border Guard Force, a Myanmar military-backed armed group led by Colonel Chit Thu and formerly known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). The project is a collaboration between a Hong Kong-based company called Yatai International Holding Group (IHG) and Col. Chit Thu, officially dubbed the “Myanmar Yatai Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone.”
The project has sparked criticisms due to a lack of transparency, land confiscations, confusion over the scale of construction and the growing influx of Chinese money as well as suspected illicit activity and local concerns about the social impacts of casino businesses.
At a press conference in Naypyitaw on Monday, Union government office Deputy Minister U Tin Myint said he has been selected as chair of an investigative tribunal for the Shwe Kokko project.
U Tin Myint said that the team has yet to make a site visit due to COVID-19, but he has instructed officials from the Karen State government, the General Administration Department and the Settlement and Land Records Department to inspect conditions of the project on the ground..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-06-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"When Myanmar’s military regime began opening up the country politically and economically in 2010, one motive was to alleviate the country’s overreliance on China. Ten years down the road, in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the threat of new Western sanctions triggered by human rights violations against the Muslim Rohingya minority, China’s influence appears hardly diminished. When the quasi-civilian government under former president Thein Sein took over from the military junta in 2011, it launched a plethora of reforms to liberalise Myanmar’s economy and its political system. Driven partly by the desire of rapprochement with the West, the new administration introduced free elections, restored civic and political rights and released political prisoners. In response, Western nations started to re-engage with Myanmar — lifting sanctions, writing off debt and disbursing development aid again.
On the economic front, signature reforms included the Foreign Investment Law of 2012, which facilitated the flow of foreign capital into Myanmar. The state’s monopoly in the telecom sector was ended and licenses issued to three foreign providers. In 2014, the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Law was introduced to spearhead business environment improvements. The government also liberalised international trade by lifting state controls, easing licensing requirements and opening previously closed sectors to private sector trading.
The economic reform momentum slowed down when a new government led by the former opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), took over in 2016. Under the leadership of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, its initial focus was on peace, national reconciliation and cementing the democratic transition. In October 2016, the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State pushed economic policy-making further to the back seat, disenchanting the business community..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2020-05-27
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed hope that Myanmar will speed up cooperation with China to implement its ambitious infrastructure projects in the country during a recent call with Myanmar President U Win Myint.
In the phone conversation on Wednesday, Xi said that he is expecting the two sides will cooperate closely and speed up the implementation of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that were agreed to during his visit to Myanmar earlier this year.
During Xi’s visit to Myanmar, both sides agreed to speed up the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) backbone projects including the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in western Rakhine State, New Yangon City in Myanmar’s commercial capital and Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zones in Shan and Kachin states.
He branded all three projects as crucial pillars of the CMEC that are needed to deepen “result-oriented BRI cooperation” and move from “the conceptual stage to concrete planning and implementation” of building the CMEC.
In January, the two sides inked a concession agreement and shareholders’ agreement for Kyaukphyu SEZ, a letter of intent on the development of Yangon City and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate negotiations around the Ruili-Muse Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zone.
Among the backbone projects, the Kyaukphyu SEZ is crucial for China, as it is expected to boost development in China’s landlocked Yunnan Province and provide China with direct access to the Indian Ocean, allowing its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca.
The two sides signed an agreement on CMEC in 2018 and the corridor is part of the BRI, Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy project. Unveiled in 2013, the international plan is also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The project aims to build a network of roads, railroads and shipping lanes linking at least 70 countries from China to Europe, passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia and fostering trade and investment..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-05-22
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A global research agency believed increasing pressure from the west on Myanmar’s alleged rights violations would push the country’s political and economic allegiance towards China, even if Myanmar seeks diversification of trade relations.
Description:
"Fitch Solutions, a unit of the UK Fitch Group, said China looks likely to be the dominant foreign influence over the coming years with its already entrenched interests over Myanmar coupled with the possibility of news sanctions from the West due to human rights abuses.
“The government’s inaction and repeated equivocation of the alleged abuses risks Myanmar becoming even more isolated on the international stage and also sanctions being expanded to include civilians and the economy,” said Fitch Solutions in its latest Outlook for Myanmar report released last week.
The atrocities committed against the northern Rakhine Muslims has once again caught the international attention recently as the International Court of Justice in January imposed emergency “provisional measures” on Myanmar, ordering the country to preserve evidence of crimes and report to the court on measures taken to prevent genocide. The case derived from the military crackdown that resulted in more than 740,000 northern Rakhine Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh.
The EU Commission’s decision in early February to partially withdraw Cambodia’s trade preference under the Everything But Arms (EBA) trade preferences initiative renewed worries about the EU removing Myanmar’s privileged status..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-03-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Most of deals meant to speed ambitious Chinese plan to connect Asia with Africa, Europe via land and maritime networks
Description:
"Myanmar and China on Saturday signed scores of deals, most of them set to spur China’s landmark Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious project to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks to boost trade and stimulate economic growth.
On his first visit to China’s Southeast Asian neighbor, President Xi Jinping met Myanmar President Win Myint, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, and military chief Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing.
Xi and Suu Kyi witnessed the signing of 33 agreements, protocols, and memoranda of understanding of infrastructure projects.
The pacts include a concessional agreement for a deep sea port project in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, giving Beijing strategic access to the Indian Ocean and cutting its reliance on maritime trade on the narrow and congested Strait of Malacca between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
China also handed Myanmar a feasibility study for a high-speed railroad line connecting Kumin, China to the Rakhine port.
The agreements also include developing a special economic zone along the two countries’ shared border and a new city next to Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.
Most of the deals are to strengthen the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a plan to connect China's Yunnan Province with Myanmar's second-largest city Mandalay, leading to Yangon and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. It is widely seen as a strategic economic corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of publication:
2020-01-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The planned multi-billion dollar Kyaukphyu Deep Seaport project will be developed with the contribution of 70 per cent by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation Consortium (CITIC) and 30 per cent by Myanmar, said Deputy Commerce Minister U Aung Htoo on Feb 16.
According to the notification issued by Myanmar Economic Zones Central Committee dated 29 February, 2015, the project has a total area of 4289.32 acres—607.88 acres for the deep seaport project, 2446.07 acres for the industrial zone project and 1235.37 acres for the advanced housing project.
A framework agreement was signed by Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Management Committee and the CITIC Consortium from China in Nay Pyi Taw on 8 November, 2018. The agreements pertaining to Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Project and Deep Sea Port Project were signed. On 18 January, 2020, both sides exchanged the MoUs.
Both projects will be developed by the CITIC Consortium and Myanmar-Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Holdings Groups of Company composed of 42 local private companies from Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of publication:
2020-02-17
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"At the second Belt and Road forum in April last year, Xi Jinping stated that the infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would be financially and environmentally sustainable and deliver high quality infrastructure. The re-calibration of the initiative sought to dam the surge of criticism that had been miring the Chinese flagship foreign policy initiative the past two years. Myanmar was among the countries that had become wary over the infamous debt trap narrative, unflattering reports of poor standards in infrastructure and opaque and wasteful procurement practices disproportionately favoring Chinese companies. Back on track?
Nonetheless, on 18 January 2020, BRI projects in Myanmar appeared to be back on track as Xi Jinping, on his first visit to Myanmar, and Aung San Suu Kyi announced their countries renewed commitment to cooperate. Myanmar’s eagerness for re-engagement with China, however, is driven largely by its international isolation due to the reported atrocities against Rohingyas. But has China also heeded to the criticism about BRI? It would appear that China’s new tune on BRI is not only a response to criticism but also about increased competition to its connectivity project.
Competition
Japan remains the largest infrastructure developer in Asia and in September 2019 announced a partnership to develop connectivity in Asia with the European Union (EU). This committed the partners to pursuing projects in a transparent and sustainable manner – a clear contrast to the BRI. Likewise, the EU’s connectivity strategy for Asia from September 2018 and it’s follow up a year later placed full emphasis on sustainability, good governance and transparency. The United States, South Korea, and a number of other OECD countries have also started infrastructure initiatives that seek similarly to differentiate from the BRI..."
Source/publisher:
"Eurasia Review"
Date of publication:
2020-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"This article argues that the origins and theoretical underpinnings of Xi
Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative can actually be traced back to the mid1980s, that is, almost three decades before the ofcial media unveiled
the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). It examines the changing role of
Myanmar in China’s grand strategy in general and in MSRI in particular by
undertaking an investigation of trade and investment relations. This analysis
of the geo-economic and geo-strategic implications of MSRI is undertaken in
order to ofer a prognosis of benefts and costs for Myanmar. Both the extent
and the limits of MSRI are illustrated in Myanmar. It ends with a discussion
of possible roadblocks, detours, cracks and fault lines along the Maritime
Silk Road.....Myanmar/Burma is the second-largest country in Southeast Asia and is located at the juncture of
Southeast and South Asia. Given its resources, natural endowments and strategic location bordering
China and India, Myanmar fnds itself at the center of political wrangling between major powers. While
India’s culture and religion have infuenced the Burmese way of life over the centuries, China has traditionally exerted geopolitical and strategic pressure on Myanmar. As Tin Maung Maung Than notes:
‘Geopolitical ramifcations for modern Burma have been overwhelmingly determined by bilateral relations with China’, which date back to the early Pyu kingdoms of the ninth century AD.1 Myanmar sufers
from centrifugal tendencies. Since independence in 1948, successive governments have battled around
the country’s periphery with ethnic separatist movements and communist insurgencies, some of which
received direct support from Beijing. Post-independence, Myanmar has ‘accommodated China as its
“senior” in a paukphaw (kinsmen) relationship’, and avoided taking actions inimical to China’s interests..."
Source/publisher:
"Journal of Contemporary China"
Date of publication:
2017-12-27
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
490.96 KB (18 pages)
more
Description:
"This article explores the function of a transnational road in China-Myanmar relations
from a perspective that reflects on Myanmar’s experience. It makes two key points. Firstly,
Myanmar’s dependent relationship with China is illuminated if one applies a New Economic
Geography perspective to economic processes. Secondly, these processes did not lead to a
permanent dependency structure through which China assumed the dominant position; the
structure is changeable, subject to action by Myanmar. The latter point indicates that China’s
influence is greatly contested by the smaller country, and that the interaction of economic and
political factors impact on the Myanmar-China relationship, particularly at local sites. This
article focuses on economic activities at the city level, in order to assess advantages and
disadvantages of the relationship. The cities that were chosen as the units of analysis are Ruili
and Mandalay. As the cities are situated on the main road connecting Myanmar to China, the
relationship is quite intense. This article explores the key characteristics of this economic
relation via the road, focusing on the connectivity of Mandalay and Ruili. This article will
focus on the processes of industrial relocation in Ruili and Mandalay to assess benefits
Myanmar gains from the bilateral relationship. Using a New Economic Geography approach
associated with the work of Krugman1
, a core-periphery pattern was applied as the
theoretical framework to explain industrial relocation and agglomeration. Consequently, the
analysis focuses on spatial relations and factors that form the relational structure. In addition,
this article also highlights the political and economic transitions in Myanmar since 2010 that
led to change in the relational structure. It also draws on fieldwork, which is used to illustrate
how connectivity has impacted Mandalay and northern Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok)
Date of publication:
2018-02-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
570.92 KB (19 pages)
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Sub-title:
Continued mistrust of China – including from the Tatmadaw – ensured that there was little significant progress during President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar.
Description:
"On January 17, Xi Jinping became the first Chinese president to travel to Myanmar in 19 years when he paid a two-day state visit. Although Xi visited Myanmar in 2009, it was the first time he had travelled here as president.
The importance of the visit was heightened by the fact that the two countries are marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year – newly independent Burma was the first non-communist country to recognise the People’s Republic of China.
During his visit Xi met top Myanmar officials including President U Win Myint, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and attended signing ceremonies for a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding.
But did China gain what it expected from the visit? And what does it mean for China-Myanmar relations?
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-02-05
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
more
Sub-title:
It doesn’t have many friendly nations to help it balance ties with Beijing
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Myanmar last week is a vivid indicator of the region’s changing geopolitics, reflecting adversely on the West and its allies. Its real significance transcends the 33 agreements signed, although it is an impressive number in itself for a short sojourn of a day and a half.
President Xi took his own time in coming to the southern neighbour which had to be content with largely one-way VVIP traffic, as Myanmar’s top leaders travelled to Beijing with noticeable regularity. As the Vice-President, he had visited Myanmar in 2009. The last visit by a Chinese President took place in 2001. The 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations was judged to be the ideal occasion to launch a major renewal and strengthen the process of the bilateral relationship.
U. Nu, the first prime minister of Burma (Myanmar’s previous name), famously depicted his country’s position in the region as “hemmed in like a tender gourd amongst the cacti.” Then, it chose the policy of independence and non-alignment. Does the red-carpet treatment extended to the President of China show that today’s Myanmar, jointly led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the military, has taken sides?..."
Source/publisher:
"The Hindu" (India)
Date of publication:
2020-01-23
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The trip produced a mixed outlook for New Delhi’s perceptions of Beijing’s inroads in the wider Indo-Pacific.
Description:
"Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a two-day visit to Myanmar, the first for Xi in his current capacity and his first overseas visit of 2020. Viewed from the perspective of growing Chinese inroads in the Indian Ocean, Xi’s trip spotlighted Beijing’s continued efforts to make geopolitical gains in line with its broader regional interests, which will be of concern to India.
While there may have been some surprise about Xi’s choice of Myanmar for his trip, it is in fact in line with China’s continued interest in making inroads with respect to the Indian Ocean. With the Myanmar visit, Xi has effectively completed his key neighborhood trips, having traveled through the Maldives and Sri Lanka in 2014, Pakistan in 2015, Bangladesh in 2016, and Nepal in 2019.
From India’s perspective, New Delhi can be none too pleased with China’s constant forays into the wider Indian Ocean region. But at least for now, India appears to be letting Myanmar’s natural caution limit China’s influence.
The significance of Xi’s trip ought not to be understated. It has been nearly two decades since a Chinese leader has traveled to Myanmar. While consolidating political and strategic ties are important for China, like in Nepal, there has been skepticism in Myanmar about partnering with China on the Belt and Road projects. But at the same time, given the difficult times that Myanmar is faced with internationally, clearly Myanmar is looking for support from China, which comes at a price.
Consolidation and implementation of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor was an important item in Xi’s Myanmar agenda and China has been quite successful on that front as the joint statement clearly outlined. China has other security interests as well, seeing Myanmar as a potential gateway to the Indian Ocean..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan) via "Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of publication:
2020-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Nation’s most volatile and fast shifting armed conflict complicates China’s Belt and Road ambitions
Description:
"Historically ethnic conflict in modern Myanmar has been a glacially slow-moving disaster, debilitating the nation’s politics while shifting only incrementally from one decade to the next.
In 2019, the eruption, spread and intensification of nationalist revolt in Rakhine state abruptly upended that familiar landscape with sobering implications for an already fragmented and floundering peace process and domestic security more broadly.
The new war in Rakhine state, pitting the military against the local Arakan Army (AA), a widely popular force led by a young and ideologically committed leadership, is also increasingly impacting Myanmar’s regional standing at a range of levels. China’s push for economic connectivity to the Bay of Bengal, stage-center during President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to Myanmar, will now need to navigate the hostilities already lapping close to the projected deep-sea port and special economic zone at Kyaukphyu, a crucial component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Poor prospects for any repatriation of the Muslim Rohingya refugee population camped in neighboring Bangladesh, estimated as high as one million, are now further receding, while additional migrant flows out of the state towards Southeast Asia are slowly gathering pace..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Four priority BRI projects in Myanmar promise to make China a balance-of-power tilting Indian Ocean force
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to Myanmar this month did not attract much regional media buzz, with most reports portraying the trip as more well-worn official promotion of his signature US$1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
But if the four most important of 33 agreements Xi signed with his Myanmar hosts during his tour are actually implemented – a big if considering BRI’s spotty follow through on ballyhooed projects – they would have far-reaching economic, political and strategic implications for South and Southeast Asia.
The first of those big four are ambitious plans to build a high-speed railroad from Myanmar’s northern border with southern China down to the central city of Mandalay and eventually to Myanmar’s southern coast. The second aims to push forward the stalled Kyaukphyu port project situated on the Bay of Bengal, an initiative that would give China de facto access to the Indian Ocean and shift that region’s strategic calculus, particularly vis-à-vis India.
The third is a proposed mega-project to build a “new city” opposite Myanmar’s former capital Yangon, a scheme that would effectively give China a unique hold on the nation’s commercial hub and underscore Beijing’s tightening grip on the country’s broad economy..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-01-27
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar exchanged a number of cooperation documents covering such areas as politics, trade, investment and people-to-people communications amid President Xi Jinping's state visit on Saturday.
The exchange ceremony was attended by Xi and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The two countries issued a joint statement the same day.
In his talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, Xi said the two countries should speed up connecting development strategies and jointly push the building of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
Hailing the corridor as a flagship project for Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries, Xi said the two sides have initiated construction and the project should bring benefits to the people as soon as possible.
The two countries should focus on the building of major projects and promote connectivity, Xi said, adding the two sides should integrate the building of roads, railways and electricity projects to formulate a network of connectivity.
Xi pointed out China welcomes Myanmar to expand exports to China, and Chinese companies are encouraged to increase investment in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"China Daily" (Beijing)
Date of publication:
2020-01-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar agreed to accelerate several joint infrastructure deals and projects during President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to the country, giving new impetus to commercial relations that have revived under Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Xi visited Myanmar on January 17 and 18, marking the first time a Chinese leader traveled to the Southeast Asian country in nearly two decades and coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the two sides establishing formal diplomatic relations.
The two governments inked 33 agreements involving key infrastructure projects while agreeing to accelerate the implementation of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor scheme, part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Most significantly, the two sides agreed to concession and shareholder agreements for the China-backed port project at Kyaukphyu in central Rakhine state. There are five agreements still to be signed on the project, according to Myanmar Deputy Commerce Minister Aung Htoo.
The deals are controversial, however, and could expose China to future political risks. Tun Kyi, coordinator of the community group Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association, said local villagers were not consulted during the negotiations of the two new agreements..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-01-21
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"During his visit to Myanmar, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed 33 Memorandum of Understanding agreements, protocols and exchanges including the Kyaukphyu and Yangon development projects.
The 33 MoUs, Agreements, Protocols and Exchanges are as follows: ..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-01-19
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar inked dozens of deals on Saturday to speed up infrastructure projects as Beijing seeks to cement its hold over a neighbor increasingly isolated by the West.
But no major new projects were agreed on during the two-day visit by President Xi Jinping, the first of any Chinese leader in 19 years. Analysts said Myanmar is generally cautious of investments by Beijing and is also being careful ahead of elections later this year.
Still, Xi and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi signed 33 agreements shoring up key projects that are part of the flagship Belt and Road initiative, China’s vision of new trade routes described as a “21st-century Silk Road.”
They agreed to hasten implementation of the China Myanmar Economic Corridor, a giant infrastructure scheme worth billions of dollars, with agreements on railways linking southwestern China to the Indian Ocean, a deep sea-port in conflict-riven Rakhine state, a special economic zone on the border, and a new city project in the commercial capital of Yangon.
They did not address a controversial $3.6 billion Beijing-backed mega-dam, where work has been stalled since 2011, reflecting the contentiousness of Chinese investment in Myanmar, where many are uncomfortable with the sway Beijing has over its smaller neighbor..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK) via "Japan Times" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2020-01-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Deal strengthens ties with Beijing as Aung San Suu Kyi faces foreign criticism for Rohingya crackdown
Description:
"Myanmar and China on Saturday signed 33 bilateral agreements that will bind the south-east Asian country closer to its giant neighbour, including rail and deep-sea port projects along an economic corridor linking China’s south-western interior to the Indian Ocean.
Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, and Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi agreed the projects — long under discussion as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative global infrastructure plan — on the second day of Mr Xi’s two-day visit to the capital Naypyidaw.
The agreements’ signing reflects deepening ties between Myanmar and China at a time when Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is under intense criticism internationally for the 2017-8 military campaign targeting minority Rohingya in Rakhine state, which killed thousands and exiled more than 730,000.
As part of China’s signature BRI project for the country, the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, the two sides on Saturday signed agreements on railways linking China to Kyaukpyu on the Bay of Bengal in Rakhine, and a final agreement on the building of a deep-sea port there.
The two sides also inked agreements providing for a special economic zone at the Chinese border and made oblique reference to New Yangon City, a planned new industrial quarter in Myanmar’s biggest city that the Chinese state-owned construction company CCCC has proposed building..."
Source/publisher:
"Financial Times" ( London)
Date of publication:
2020-01-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Trip helps cement ‘new era’ for Beijing’s ties with its neighbour, which is facing growing international criticism over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority...Agreements see multibillion plan for Kyaukphyu port revived – a step that could allow China to bypass the Strait of Malacca where its South China Sea claims have faced a growing backlash.
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his visit to Myanmar on Saturday after signing multibillion-dollar infrastructure deals, including one for a strategically important port in the Indian Ocean.
This investment and what both sides hailed as “new era” in relations offered a timely boost for Myanmar, which is facing increasing isolation from the West over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Following his arrival in the purpose-built capital of Naypyidaw on Friday afternoon, Xi met a number of key figures, including President Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi, the effective head of the government, as well as military chief General Min Aung Hlaing. He also meet politicians from areas, some racked by ethnic conflict, where Chinese infrastructure projects are being planned or are under way.According to local media, the two sides signed 33 memorandums of understanding, agreements, exchange letters and protocols, 13 of which were related to infrastructure.
In a move that observers said could further cement Beijing’s economic and political influence, the two sides also agreed to push forward plans to develop the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, most notably the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone along the coast of the Bay of Bengal..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-01-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Along the Bay of Bengal on the west tip of Myanmar, the town of Kyaukpyu in Rakhine State sits tranquilly on a 25-meter deep harbor.
This deep-sea port, surrounded by superb natural conditions, could be developed into another demonstration project under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), mutually benefiting both Myanmar and China.
During Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Myanmar on Jan. 17-18, the two sides agreed to strengthen their BRI cooperation, and work hard to push forward the construction of the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), according to a joint statement issued by the two countries on Saturday.
Master plan
In 2014, the Myanmar government invited bidders from around the world for its plan to set up the Kyaukpyu SEZ, one of the country's three national SEZs, in an effort to kick-start the local economy and raise living standards.
The master plan includes a deep-sea port and an accompanying industrial park nearby.
In 2015, a consortium of six companies led by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) won the tender for building the Kyaukpyu SEZ. Three years later, after a marathon of negotiations, the CITIC-led consortium struck a framework agreement with Myanmar on the project..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China) via "China.org.cn" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-01-19
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of China-Myanmar diplomatic relations. As friendly neighbors, Myanmar has been generally associated with the silk road, which originated in China, throughout history and the friendship of two countries keeps vibrant thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In ancient times, Myanmar was a transportation hub of both the southwestern Silk Road between China, Myanmar and India and the Maritime Silk Road, bringing great convenience to trade between China, the Indian Ocean and the western world.
The long-term friendly bilateral economic ties have laid a foundation for Myanmar to participate in BRI in the new century.
In 2015, Myanmar joined the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as one of the founding members. The two countries then signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly build the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) in 2018, aiming to further enhance bilateral pragmatic cooperation within the framework of BRI..."
Source/publisher:
"China Global Television Network (CGTN)" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, Kachin State, Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, Myitkyina Economic Development Zone, Myitsone Dam, Xi Jinping
Topic:
Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, Kachin State, Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, Myitkyina Economic Development Zone, Myitsone Dam, Xi Jinping
Description:
"Nearly 40 civil society organizations (CSOs) have called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to permanently terminate the suspended Myitsone Dam project, saying that the project threatens the prosperity of the Myanmar people and that friendly relations between the two countries will deteriorate if the project goes ahead.
On Wednesday, civil society organizations, mostly based in Kachin State, issued an open letter to Xi, two days before his planned visit to Myanmar.
The visit aims to pave the way for Xi’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Myanmar and includes plans for a dozen agreements, including around the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which will grant China access to the Indian Ocean. A final decision on the controversial Myitsone Dam project may also be on the agenda for the visit.
“We will have to lose more and more if the project is revived. Local residents have already suffered enough because of the project. We want to stop the project permanently,” Tu Hkawng, project coordinator for civil society organization Airavati, told The Irrawaddy. “We will never agree to restarting the Myitsone project.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-01-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"A decade ago, Myanmar’s generals, setting out to show they were serious about liberalizing after half a century of brutal military rule, made a bold play: They snubbed China, canceling a joint multibillion-dollar dam project, and embraced the West.
In the period that followed, President Barack Obama visited Myanmar twice. He was photographed kissing the cheek of Aung San Suu Kyi, the former democracy activist who later became Myanmar’s civilian leader. He met with former generals, signaling a readiness to open a new chapter with a nation long encumbered by U.S. sanctions.
Then came the exodus of nearly 1 million Rohingya Muslims, driven from their homes by Myanmar’s military in a scorched-earth campaign that drew a Western outcry and charges of genocide. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, led Myanmar’s defense at the International Court of Justice last month; a provisional ruling is expected next week..."
Source/publisher:
"The Washington Post" (USA)
Date of publication:
2020-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
China has vowed to strengthen strategic links and advance economic projects such as the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Myanmar, said Chinese ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai, prior to Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to the country on January 17.
Description:
"“Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar will greatly advance bilateral relations,” Mr Chen said, according to a report by Chinese newspaper Golden Phoenix, seen by The Myanmar Times.
Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Myanmar, Xi’s visit marks the first trip to the country as president and 19 years after former president Jiang Zeming’s visit.
“Taking President Xi's visit as an opportunity, the two will strengthen strategic links, sign a series of deals and advance progress in economic projects,” said Mr Chen. The two countries will ink several deals, including the US$1.3 billion Kyaukphyu port project, while Xi is expected to push ahead the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) scheme as well as other projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Initiated in 2017 under the framework of Xi’s multi-billion development strategy BRI, the corridor scheme features a Y-shaped route from China’s Yunnan Province to Myanmar’s Rakhine State and Yangon with multiple projects initiated, including the Kyaukphyu SEZ and port project, a railway project that falls on this route, among others.
The fact that the Myanmar government set up the Steering Committee for the Implementation of the Community and the Silk Road Project chaired by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is a demonstration of Myanmar’s commitment to the BRI, as seen by China..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is a fulcrum of the Belt and Road Initiative and an important corridor between China and Southeast and South Asia. As a traditional friendly neighbor, Myanmar has established a comprehensive strategic partnership with China. Apart from participating in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Myanmar was among the first 21 countries to join the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Also, China is Myanmar's biggest source of foreign investment.
Since 2013, China and Myanmar together have made remarkable achievements in taking forward the Belt and Road Initiative.
First, the two countries have not only maintained frequent high-level mutual visits but also improved their cooperation mechanism, and thus strengthened mutual political trust. In April 2015, President Xi Jinping met with U Thein Sein, then president of Myanmar, on the sidelines of the Asian-African Summit that was held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference in Indonesia. In October of the same year, Xi met with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on the sidelines of the 8th BRICS Summit in India. He also met with Suu Kyi three times at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing between May 2017 and April 2019..."
Source/publisher:
"China Daily" (Beijing)
Date of publication:
2020-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
According to Myanmar government sources, Xi is expected to visit Naypyitaw, January 17-18. During his trip, the two sides are expected to sign several agreements covering the construction of the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and border economic cooperation zones, , road upgrade projects, promotion of trade relations among others.
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit Myanmar, a key neighbour of India this week, as Beijing seeks to ramp up support for BRI that will open connectivity in Bay of Bengal. The BRI projects in Myanmar has not received enough local support contrary to Chinese expectations.
This will first visit by a Chinese President to Myanmar in nearly two decades. India will keep a close watch on the visit.
According to Myanmar government sources, Xi is expected to visit Naypyitaw, January 17-18. During his trip, the two sides are expected to sign several agreements covering the construction of the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and border economic cooperation zones, road upgrade projects, promotion of trade relations, and social and economic development assistance, according to Myanmar government sources.
Minister for Commerce U Than Myint told the reporters that Xi will visit Myanmar soon, saying that during his trip an agreement would be signed between the two countries in which China would ease restrictions on imports of products from Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of publication:
2020-01-13
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Myanmar next week to boost ties and push investment projects, in a show of support for Aung San Suu Kyi’s government as it faces global condemnation over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Xi will begin the two-day trip on January 17, according to Luo Zhaohui, China’s vice-foreign minister. It will be the first state visit to Myanmar by a Chinese president since Jiang Zemin’s trip in 2001.
Luo said in a briefing on Friday that the countries would seek close economic and trade cooperation through Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative – Xi’s sprawling infrastructure and investment scheme spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond. Chinese observers said Xi’s trip showed the importance of relations with Myanmar, which is strategically located and stands on the frontline of China’s geopolitical rivalry with the United States and other powers in the Asia-Pacific, such as India and Japan.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of China’s official ties with three Asian nations – Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia. Xu Liping, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that Xi had chosen to go to Myanmar for his first overseas trip of the year, rather than the other two countries, both of which were at odds with Beijing over the South China Sea..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-01-10
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Myanmar late next week to discuss bilateral relations and to push for the speedier buildout of Chinese development projects under his massive Belt and Road Initiative, Myanmar analysts said Wednesday.
Neither the Myanmar nor Chinese government has released details of his Jan. 17-18 trip — Xi’s first visit to the Southeast Asian country since 2009 — on the occasion of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries.
Myanmar analysts say Xi’s trip could bode well for the country’s faltering peace process and economic growth.
Beijing has encouraged rebel ethnic armies fighting Myanmar troops in border areas to meet with peace negotiators and agree to bilateral cease-fires with the government military.
China’s primary motive for getting involved in the peace process is driven by its interest in securing border areas so that infrastructure investments in Myanmar under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are not jeopardized, analysts believe..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2020-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The following is an abridged version of Myanmar economist U Myint’s assessment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and how it may affect Myanmar.
Description:
"In recent years, Myanmar’s decision-makers have interacted with Chinese partners on infrastructure and investment projects in a seemingly dichotomous manner. But in a sense their decisions reflect a practical logic that takes into account the concerns of both the communities affected by those projects and the population at large. The abrupt suspension in 2011 of the billion-dollar hydropower dam project at Myitsone in Kachin State and the more recent agreements entered into by the current government to bring Myanmar closer into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) orbit present contrasting examples of Myanmar’s approach to Chinese projects in the country. Myanmar hit the “pause” button in its infrastructure deals with China on 30 September 2011, when the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government led by President Thein Sein suspended the Myitsone dam project for the duration of his administration. That administration ended in March 2016, and the question of whether the project should be resumed or not, and of whether something else could be done with it, has become a heated and emotional issue.
In today’s Myanmar, the democratically-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government seems to have moved to the “fast-forward” option in its economic interactions with China. A memorandum of understanding for the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) was signed in September 20181. A related agreement to develop a deep-sea port at Kyaukphyu in southern Rakhine State, together with a special economic zone (SEZ), was signed in November 2018. The 1,700-kilometer corridor would connect Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan Province, to Myanmar's major economic centres – Mandalay and then Yangon — and to the Kyaukphyu SEZ. It would link the least and most developed areas of the country..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-12-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
more
Sub-title:
This will be Xi Jinping’s first visit to Myanmar after more than a decade and is set for January 17 next
Description:
"The Myanmar government is setting the stage for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the country.
Xi Jinping is scheduled to discuss China-Myanmar relations and the progress of Chinese development projects, according to government and media reports.
This will be Xi Jinping’s first visit to Myanmar after more than a decade.
He last visited Myanmar in 2009.
The visit is said to be set for January 17.
Progress has been made with major projects that represent important development programmes for China.
Bilateral discussions have focused on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), including the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), viewed as Beijing’s strategic window to the India Ocean.
But there are indications that Beijing will be pushing to speed up the projects.
In addition, there are other Chinese investment projects that are likely to come up for discussion, including the controversial Myitsone Dam project that was put on hold by the previous Myanmar government under President Thein Sein..."
Source/publisher:
"Northeast Now" (India)
Date of publication:
2020-01-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co (CREEC) recently launched a survey for the Muse-Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railway line, part of the China–Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and the larger Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region, EThas learnt from people familiar with the developments.
Description:
"A proposed railway line from Kunming in China to two ports in Myanmar — close to the India-funded Sittwe port — is being closely watched by India amid the Centre’s plans to connect corridors in the Bay of Bengal region as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy.
China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co (CREEC) recently launched a survey for the Muse-Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railway line, part of the China–Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and the larger Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region, EThas learnt from people familiar with the developments.
In October, Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the project, expected to be one of the largest road-and-railway projects in the Southeast Asian country that shares both a land and maritime boundary with India.
The project involves building a high-speed railway line from Kunming to Muse on the Myanmar-China border and from there on to Mandalay, terminating in Kyaukphyu port in Rakhine province. A railway line from the same corridor will branch out to Yangon port, one of the people told ET. China is said to view the project to connect the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and the deep water port in Myanmar as something that would benefit both countries under the larger CMEC umbrella. Local politicians say the project could turn out to be a second ‘Hambantota’ and China could take over the ports in future if Myanmar does not earn sufficient revenue from it..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of publication:
2019-12-26
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with India
Language:
more
Sub-title:
With Xi Jinping’s visit, China is on the verge of realizing a 10-year plan: gaining a back door to the Indian Ocean.
Description:
"A decade after Xi Jinping’s first visit to Myanmar in 2009, Naypyidaw is planning a banquet for another Xi visit, expected to be on January 17, 2020. As part of the preparation, shuttle diplomacy is already underway, with China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meeting with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on December 9, 2019. The agenda is loud and clear: to speed up the construction of the projects within the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and realization of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In particular, speeding up the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Beijing’s strategic window to the India Ocean, is on the short list.
Originating as one of 16 MoUs signed during then-Vice President Xi’s 2009 visit, the Kyaukphyu SEZ is the capstone of all China’s investments in Myanmar and was Beijing’s strategic offset in the Indian Ocean prior to the launch of the BRI. However, Chinese projects in Myanmar stalled after the suspension of controversial Myitsone Dam, which created uneasy relations with Beijing for the first time in 20 years and caused BRI capital injections to fall short of the hype. Kyaukphyu was not an exception. The project was significantly trimmed down with the fear of a debt trap..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2020-01-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar President U Win Myint on Saturday met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Naypyidaw, the country's capital, with both sides pledging to strengthen high-level exchanges to push bilateral ties to a new high.
The Myanmar president expressed gratitude to China for its long-term support for Myanmar's sovereignty, dignity and socio-economic development.
He hoped that both sides will take the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year as an opportunity to consolidate and deepen mutual political trust, speed up the joint construction of the Belt and Road, comprehensively press forward the building of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. The president also hope to expand cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, education, health, and enhance cooperation and coordination in regional and international issues so as to further advance the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. He also hoped that China would continue to support Myanmar in pressing forward the ongoing national reconciliation and peace process..."
Source/publisher:
"China Global Television Network (CGTN)" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-12-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar pins hopes on brand new city to entice foreign investment and jobs, but must respond to concerns about transparency and sea-level rise
Description:
"It’s summer and Yangon is scorching hot. The hotel air-conditioning shuts down as it does several times a day due to electricity shortages. Shops and apartment buildings fire up growling diesel generators whose fumes mix poisonously with the exhaust of the second-hand Japanese cars streaming past.
I’m waiting for a ferry at Pansodan pier in the south of the city. Behind me is Yangon’s “Bund”, a row of colonial-era commercial and administrative buildings. In front is the Yangon river, whose waters flow gently, if a little murkily. On the other bank I can see the township of Dala. The view is flat and rural, a stark contrast to Yangon’s bustling cityscape.
Reaching Dala, I take a motorbike westwards, crossing the Twante canal via a steel bridge with an unpaved surface that makes the wheels skid. Farmers are transplanting rice in plots either side of the road. It’s countryside the whole way. ’ve come to see the area where a new city is being planned. Dubbed Myanmar’s Shenzhen, “New Yangon City” will cover 80km2 west of the Yangon river. Although only separated from the old city by the river, the area is relatively cut off. The only direct route is via the ferry to Dala..."
Source/publisher:
Chinadialogue (London/Beijing)
Date of publication:
2019-11-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will set up its first container terminal outside India in Myanmar at an estimated cost of USD 290 million (over Rs 2,000 crore).
Description:
"Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will set up its first container terminal outside India in Myanmar at an estimated cost of USD 290 million (over Rs 2,000 crore).
The company signed an agreement Thursday to develop and operate a container terminal at Yangon Port in Myanmar.
Construction for phase one of the project will commence next month and will be completed by June 2021. It is a two-phase project.
"Total project cost for both phases would be USD 275-290 million. The investment is in line with APSEZ strategy to have a footprint in Southeast Asia and expand the container terminal network," Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) said in a statement.
Also, the terminal will be integrated with APSEZ ports/terminals along the east and south coast of India, unlocking synergies by offering multiple entry/exit points for shipping lines, APSEZ, the logistics arm of Adani Group, said..."
Source/publisher:
"Business Today" (India)
Date of publication:
2019-05-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with India, India-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar tycoon Win Aung is open to foreign investment in the listed industrial-estate provider he oversees, following Ayala Corp's tie-up with a firm traded on the nation's fledgling stock exchange.
In an interview in Yangon, Win Aung said a stake sale is an option as he plans to expand Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings, which operates a manufacturing zone where 109 firms have opened factories or plan to do so.
"We'll need more capital and technology," Win Aung, the firm's chairman, said on Thursday (Nov 28). "Detailed plans will be revealed later after the authorities officially allow foreigner participation on the Yangon Stock Exchange."
Myanmar is trying to expand a stunted bourse that currently has just five stocks by allowing overseas purchases of domestic equities from 2020. The Philippines' oldest conglomerate Ayala is investing in one of those five - First Myanmar Investment - via an US$82.5 million convertible loan that will become a 20 per cent shareholding when rules permit.
The four-year-old Thilawa special economic zone is viewed by some as the largest in Myanmar. Japanese, Thai and Malaysian firms account for the bulk of the factories located there, according to Win Aung..."
Source/publisher:
"The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of publication:
2019-11-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Political, social and economic dimensions of investment in Burma, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general, China-Burma-US relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
UK Prudential, US Chubb, AIA and others granted licenses to tap previously state monopolized sector
Description:
"Myanmar has injected new life into its laggard insurance industry with today’s (November 28) issuance of licenses to a handful of foreign companies, including UK Prudential, Japan’s Dai-ichi Life, Hong Kong’s AIA, US Chubb and Canadian Manulife.
The Ministry of Finance authorized the widely anticipated but long delayed move to allow foreign insurers to operate in the local market as 100% wholly owned subsidiaries. It also provided for local-foreign joint ventures, with six life and non-life insurance licenses approved for Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, Taiyo Life and Nippon Life.
The announcement marks a significant step towards financial sector liberalization, allowing foreigners access to one of the last largely untapped insurance markets in the world. The move follows on other market-opening measures granted to the education, retail and wholesale sectors under the current administration..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2019-11-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
more
Title: Potential Environmental and Social Impacts of Chinese Mega-Projects in Myanmar Raise Concerns
Topic:
air, backbone projects, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar, BCIM, Belt and Road initiative, biodiversity, BRI, China, China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CITIC, Climate Change, CMEC, CNICO, Development, economic benefit, endangered species, Environment, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, ESIA, Forests, Global Warming, growth, Infrastructure, Investment, Irrawaddy River, Kyaukphyu, land grabbing, Letpadaung Taung copper mine, mega projects, Muse-Mandalay Railway, Natural Resources, noise pollution, oil and gas pipeline, Pollution, port, Protest, Railway, sea, SEZ, social impact, Special Economic Zone, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Wanbao Mining Company, Water
Topic:
air, backbone projects, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar, BCIM, Belt and Road initiative, biodiversity, BRI, China, China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CITIC, Climate Change, CMEC, CNICO, Development, economic benefit, endangered species, Environment, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, ESIA, Forests, Global Warming, growth, Infrastructure, Investment, Irrawaddy River, Kyaukphyu, land grabbing, Letpadaung Taung copper mine, mega projects, Muse-Mandalay Railway, Natural Resources, noise pollution, oil and gas pipeline, Pollution, port, Protest, Railway, sea, SEZ, social impact, Special Economic Zone, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Wanbao Mining Company, Water
Description:
"With more and more Chinese investment flowing into the country, many key government officials are speaking out in support of the projects, which range from a high-speed railway line to special economic zones to seaports. At several local investment forums, they have voiced the view that China’s grand infrastructure projects will bring economic development to Myanmar and economic benefits to local people, while boosting the country’s strategic importance in the region.
But what they have so far failed to mention is the possible environmental and social impacts of the projects on host communities. They rarely talk about how the projects threaten biodiversity, protected forests and natural water resources. Faced with this official silence, experts and activists worry aloud about land confiscations, influxes of migrants, loss of livelihoods and air, water and noise pollution in the project areas.
Massive project-related activities are now being implemented under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework in Myanmar, following the signing last year of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC)..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-11-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar, The impact of climate change on the environment of Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
New rules threaten to prevent locals from capitalizing on the state’s coming gold rush
Description:
"Aung Gyi is forced to fish covertly under the shroud of night in western Myanmar waters as China bids to transform the strategically key region into a shipping and industrial hub, squeezing out locals who fear being left behind in the gold rush.
Myanmar has declared Rakhine state, associated by many worldwide with the military’s 2017 bloody crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, open for business but locals fear they are being left out of the gold rush as new rules restrict traditional practices.
Paddies and teak forests will be flattened for a colossal Beijing-backed factory zone and deep-sea port, which will serve as its neighboring giant’s gateway to the Indian Ocean. But the state’s promise for development comes with fishing restrictions – the waterways have been freed up for Chinese ships – a situation that has devastated local lives and livelihoods.
“I might be beaten or arrested” if caught fishing illegally, Aung Gyi says as he lays shrimp out to dry by his dilapidated shack in a small fishing hamlet near the town of Kyaukphyu..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2019-11-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) have started in Kyaukphyu SEZ and Kyaukphyu deep seaport. The project will be implemented after signing agreements including shareholder and other ones, said Deputy Minister Aung Htoo of the Ministry of Commerce.
“Kyaukphyu was already negotiated in the time of the first government. The contract was changed into a ratio of 70-30 from 85-15. Then a framework agreement was signed. Now, the EIA and SIA have already begun. If the shareholder agreement and other ones are signed, the project will start an operation, said Deputy Minister Aung Htoo.
Previously, the agreement showed an 85 % would go to China and a 15 % to Myanmar. In the time of the current government, the project was re-negotiated and was newly signed back. The agreement indicated that a 70% would go to China and 30 % to Myanmar.
“In a ratio of 70: 30, a 70 % goes to China and 30 % to Myanmar. In a 30 % of Myanmar, it will be divided in half, that is, 15 % each to the government and public companies including ethnics, Union Minister Than Myint told the Daily Eleven.
Concerning Kyaukphyu SEZ and Kyaukphyu deep seaport, Myanmar-China bilateral framework agreement was signed by the management committee of Kyaukphy SEZ and CITIC consortium on November 8 in 2018..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-11-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, The impact of climate change on the environment of Burma/Myanmar, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Oil, Gas, Special Economic Zone, Belt and Road Initiative, Kyaukphyu, Rakhine state, Rohingya, Myanmar, China
Topic:
Oil, Gas, Special Economic Zone, Belt and Road Initiative, Kyaukphyu, Rakhine state, Rohingya, Myanmar, China
Description:
"Aung Gyi is forced to fish covertly under the shroud of night in western Myanmar waters as China bids to transform the strategically key region into a shipping and industrial hub, squeezing out locals who fear being left behind in the gold rush.
Myanmar has declared Rakhine state, associated by many worldwide with the military’s 2017 bloody crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, open for business – but locals fear they are being left out of the gold rush as new rules restrict traditional practises.
Paddies and teak forests will be flattened for a colossal Beijing-backed factory zone and deep-sea port, which will serve as its neighbouring giant’s gateway to the Indian Ocean.
But the state’s promise for development comes with fishing restrictions – the waterways have been freed up for Chinese ships – a situation that has devastated local lives and livelihoods.
“I might be beaten or arrested” if caught fishing illegally, Aung Gyi says as he lays shrimp out to dry by his dilapidated shack in a small fishing hamlet near the town of Kyaukphyu.
“But I have no choice. Otherwise, my family would starve, the 28-year-old adds..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-11-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
more
Description:
"PPB Group Bhd's 18.5%-owned associate Wilmar International Ltd will build the largest rice mill in Myanmar's Thilawa Special Economic Zone to capitalise on Myanmar's economic growth, Eleven Media Group Co Ltd reported, quoting Wilmar International chairman and chief executive officer Kuok Khoon Hong.
Eleven Media reported that Singapore-listed Wilmar International via subsidiary Wilmar Myanmar will build the mill, which will produce up to 1,200 tonnes of rice a day.
Kuok was quoted as saying: "I believe that Myanmar owns the prosperity of business and agriculture sectors. So, it can create not only local agricultural imports (but) local and foreign markets."
It was reported that upon completion of the rice mill, rice bags will be exported to other countries via Thilawa.
"Wilmar Myanmar had opened the Wilmar Jetty on March 25, 2018. Myanmar Investment Commission granted Wilmar (the right) to operate Wilmar Myanmar Port Terminals (Thilawa) under a 50-year build, operate and transfer agreement with the government..."
Source/publisher:
"The Edge Market" (Malaysia, Singapore)
Date of publication:
2019-11-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"China is rebranding and repackaging dormant or delayed projects in Myanmar under the banner of its Belt and Road Initiative, many of whose projects lack transparency and consultation with affected communities, according to the latest policy brief by a Netherlands-based research and advocacy institute.
Stephanie Olinga-Shannon, a planning and evaluation coordinator for the Transitional Institute (TNI) who also researches Chinese foreign policy for the organization, said, “Rather than a ‘grand strategy’, the BRI is a broad and loosely governed framework of activities seeking to address a crisis in Chinese capitalism.”
“Almost any activities, implemented by any actor in any place can be included under the BRI framework and branded as a BRI project in Myanmar,” Olinga-Shannon said.
The BRI allows Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and provincial governments to promote their own projects to pursue profit and economic growth, she added..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-11-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Japan is keen on businesses for the development of the whole Taninthayi Region including Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and are now carrying out research into the project, says Aung Htoo, Deputy Minister of Commerce.
Despite plans that have been in development regarding the implementation of Dawei SEZ over a decade ago, it was delayed.
Among the extant SEZs in Myanmar, Thilawa SEZ see the most development and is being implemented together with the Japanese government.
“Dawei SEZ was implemented over 10 years ago by joining hands with the Italian-Thailand Company. But, it was long-delayed project and the company’s budget is weak. On the other hand, we need to fulfill basic requirements for success in implementing the project. There have been many facts. For example, we are going to rent the land plot and provide secure transportation access. Moreover, we are going to approve the environmental conservation, EIA and SIA reports,” said Aung Htoo.
Delays were reportedly due to the infrastructural weaknesses, particularly with the roads and electricity supply.
“Both governments recognized that there have been challenges to the implementation of Dawei SEZ. For Dawei SEZ, such as the Ministry of Electricity by their electricity distribution. Moreover, both sides are going to review their policy concerning the Special Purpose Vehicle-SPV,” said Assistance Secretary Khin Maung Lwin of the Ministry of Commerce..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-11-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Japan is playing a central role in assisting Myanmar’s ongoing financial reforms and attempts to achieve industrialisation. Japan is interested in Myanmar from both an industrial and a financial perspective, while Burmese officials see Japan as a natural partner for financial cooperation. Japan’s public–private assistance for financial development in Myanmar emerged in a Financial Services Agency (FSA) working group specialising in ‘international expansion’ in 2012. The working group proposed a collection of policy suggestions such as offering technical assistance for financial development and support for financial deregulation in Asia to promote the internationalisation of business activities by Japanese firms and financial institutions.
Reflecting on these policy suggestions, the Japanese cabinet approved Japan’s Revitalization Strategy in 2013, where it articulated that ‘by taking in the growth of Asia, the government will vitalise stock markets and improve asset management markets to build a No. 1 financial/capital market in Asia’. In 2014, the revised growth strategy further pledged that ‘the government will also support Japanese firms’ and financial institutions’ activities in Asia’.
In recent years, Southeast Asia has become a key foreign direct investment (FDI) destination for Japanese firms, partly because of rising labour costs in China. Since 2013, the ASEAN–4 nations — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand — have attracted more FDI from Japan than China.
Japanese financial institutions, particularly banks, are also shifting their weight towards Southeast Asia. Japanese bank claims on Asia have grown 105 per cent since the end of 2008, as Japanese banks expand their client base from Japanese firms to local entities and even individual customers overseas. The IMF predicts that this expansionary trend is likely to continue over the medium term.
There is new empirical evidence that banking FDI precedes and promotes manufacturing FDI. Indeed, coupled with the overseas re-expansion of Japanese banks, Japanese companies are eager to hold stakes in local companies or even proceed with mergers and acquisitions. This will enable them to enhance their market shares in Southeast Asian economies..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2019-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with Japan, Other Special Economic Zones, Japan-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
39.12 KB (4 pages)
more
Sub-title:
Carmaker chases Suzuki, Ford and Hyundai in Southeast Asia's final frontier
Description:
" Toyota Motor began work Friday on an auto assembly plant in Myanmar, becoming the sixth automaker to venture into production in a country seen as the last untapped growth market in Southeast Asia.
The $52.6 million plant in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone outside Yangon will produce Hilux pickup trucks. It is slated to go online in February 2021.
"Through local production, we'll supply high-quality vehicles in a timely manner," said Susumu Matsuda, deputy head of Toyota's China and Asia operations, at the groundbreaking ceremony.
The move fills the last gap in Toyota's Southeast Asian production map and solidifies its position in a country of 50 million where auto manufacturing is just starting to take root.
Suzuki, which found success as an early mover in India, and Hyundai Motor affiliate Kia Motors began making cars in Myanmar in 2013. Nissan Motor and Ford Motor followed later, and Hyundai started up an assembly plant here this past February..."
Source/publisher:
"Nikkei Asian Review" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-11-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Thailand and Myanmar expect to have cars travelling on three routes between both countries this September, in a move set to bolster the regional economy.
Each country will be granted 100 licences for their transport operators, who can drive hundreds of kilometres into the inner areas of the countries, including to Yangon and a port near the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Myanmar, and Bangkok and Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri, Land Transport Department chief Phiraphon Thawonsuphacharoen said on Friday.
"We're selecting and examining operators' qualifications," he said, referring to a process required by the Greater Mekong Subregion Cross-Border Transport Agreement. The routes, which start from Myawaddy-Mae Sot border checkpoint are aimed at supporting international tourism and logistics, Mr Phiraphon said..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with Thailand, Burma's economic relations with Thailand, Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
more
Description:
"MYANMAR would need to take a strong governmental role is to accelerate the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) as it becomes an active part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), following the suspension of a controversial hydropower dam venture in 2011, an senior Burmese economist has suggested.
Dr U Myint, formerly chief economic adviser to former Burmese leader Thein Sein, said the previous and present Myanmar governments have taken different approaches to engaging China over large-scale infrastructure projects.
"This apparently inconsistent policy has the potential to cause confusion and anxiety among the Myanmar public and implementing officials, who are usually not included in or consulted on decisions related to investment or infrastructure projects. Past experiences in dealing with China may also cause skepticism on the part of both the public and bureaucrats," Dr U Myint wrote in a guest publication for Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute published Tuesday..."
Source/publisher:
"The Business Times" (Singapore)
Date of publication:
2019-10-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Foreign investments of US$362.28 million flowed into the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), under the Special Economic Zone Law, in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, according to figures released by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, Myanmar state media reported.
A total of 106 enterprises from 18 countries and four local businesses have ploughed in $1.84 billion so far in the zones, data on FDI of existing enterprises shows, according to Mizzima. Japan topped the list of foreign investors in the previous fiscal, accounting for more than 36% of the overall investment, followed by Singapore and Thailand.
FDI also flowed into the SEZs from South Korea, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Austria, Taiwan, Panama, China, Brunei, Vietnam, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-10-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Toyota Motor Corp is planning to build an automobile factory in Myanmar, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learnt.
An official announcement could come before the end of the month, with construction on the plant to start this year.
The plant would be located in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone on the outskirts of Yangon and would assemble pickup trucks through so-called knockdown production, in which parts imported from Japan and other nearby nations are put together at the new plant.
Myanmar has a population of about 50 million people, on a par with South Korea and Spain. It is also a young nation, with an average age of 27.9. While it is one of the poorest countries in Asia, it has seen strong economic growth recently and is expected to grow at annual rates of 6 to 7 per cent.
Though only about 17,500 new automobiles were sold in the country in 2018, the figure more than doubled compared to the previous year. Toyota currently exports about 2,000 passenger and commercial vehicles to Myanmar per year and sees the market as one with strong growth potential..."
Source/publisher:
"The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of publication:
2019-05-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with Japan, Economic Development, Other Special Economic Zones, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The naming of the bilateral projects with Nepal coincided with Beijing dropping the BCIM or the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Corridor from the BRI projects’ list.
Description:
"China is shoring-up its connectivity projects with Nepal and Myanmar, including a trans-Himalayan network, a cross-border railway venture and an economic corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including the Nepal-China cross-border railway, have been named under the list of projects under the BRI.
The naming of the bilateral projects with Nepal coincided with Beijing dropping the BCIM or the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Corridor from the BRI projects’ list.
Instead, China has now named the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor under the BRI, an indication that Beijing will go ahead with infrastructure projects in south Asia bilaterally. Simultaneously, visiting Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari said in Beijing that the BRI is offering new opportunities for Nepal and she hopes Chinese investors and enterprises can invest more in Nepal..."
Source/publisher:
"Hindustan Times " (India)
Date of publication:
2019-04-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
more
Sub-title:
China’s new infrastructure corridor through Myanmar crosses war-torn regions, risking further conflict and environmental degradation
Description:
"A year ago, Myanmar and China signed an agreement to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), as part of China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. Today, that corridor is mired in conflict between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups.
Stretching 1,700km, the CMEC’s network of new railways, trade zones and other major infrastructure projects is meant to mesh the comparatively impoverished economy of Myanmar with its wealthier neighbour’s landlocked southern province of Yunnan. However, ongoing armed conflict and lingering resentment against Chinese investments mean the future of the CMEC is uncertain.
Since its transition to semi-civilian rule in 2011, Myanmar has proven to be more cautious with Chinese investments than other developing countries. In August 2018, Myanmar officials negotiated an 80% cost reduction to the proposed Kyaukphyu deep-sea port, trimming the project from over US$7 billion to US$1.3 billion, Reuters reported. The Myanmar side, led by deputy finance minister Set Aung, baulked at the risk of an excessive debt burden..."
Source/publisher:
"Chinadialogue" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-10-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Japanese companies are becoming interested in the local industry which will manufacture products in Myanmar and export them to India, China and Thailand, said Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar Mr. Ichiro Maruyama, at Japan-Myanmar Resource, Trade and Investment Expo 2019 at Inya Lake Hotel in Yangon on October 19.
“There are many Japanese companies which are very interested in the local market as Myanmar has many populations. Myanmar borders Thailand, India and China. That’s why, many Japanese companies are interested in exporting Myanmar-made products to neighbouring countries,” Mr. Ichiro Maruyama said.
“Japanese companies are also interested to import raw materials from neighbouring countries and produce the products using these raw materials. Then, they want to sell these products in the local market,” he added.
From 1988-89 FY till September 30, 2019, Japan’s total investments in 117 businesses exceeded 1.2 billion US dollars, according to the figures from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA)..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with Japan, Other Special Economic Zones, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Residents of central Myanmar's Mandalay region said Thursday that they are increasingly fearful of forced property confiscation lost farmland in areas slated for the construction of a high-speed railway running from Kunming in southwestern China to their city under the massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), RFA reported.
Two state-owned companies — Myanmar Railways and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd. — signed a memorandum of understanding a year ago to conduct a feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay line, a key part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under the BRI that is expected to boost trade between the two countries.
The CMEC entails a central road and rail transport infrastructure from southwestern China’s Yunnan province through Muse and Mandalay to the town of Khaukphyu in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a major seaport and special economic zone are scheduled for construction..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, debt trap, economic zone, Human Rights, Kachin State, land grabs, Myitkyina, Myitkyina Economic Development Zone, neo-colonialism, property rights, Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company
Topic:
Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, debt trap, economic zone, Human Rights, Kachin State, land grabs, Myitkyina, Myitkyina Economic Development Zone, neo-colonialism, property rights, Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company
Description:
"The Kachin State government is planning to sign an agreement next month on the establishment of a China-backed economic zone, paving the way for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.
Under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) agreement, which is also a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s grand BRI vision, Kachin State signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company (YTHIC) in May 2018 for implementation of the Myitkyina Economic Development Zone.
The project, also known as the Namjim Industrial Zone, is 25 km from Myitkyina, the Kachin capital.
“We are expected to sign an agreement next month,” the Kachin State chief minister, Dr. Khet Aung, told The Irrawaddy.
“Currently, we are finalizing detailed negotiations and a full master plan from the Chinese company.”
YTHIC and the Myitkyina zone committee, formed by the Kachin State government, are expected to build the massive site on approximately 19 sq. km along the historic Ledo Road.
The road was built during World War II so the Allies could supply Chinese troops fighting the Japanese. It linked Ledo, in Indian Assam, and Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-10-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Economy of Kachin State, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Belt and Road
Sub-title:
Ethnic strife and national pride halt Beijing-championed infrastructure projects
Topic:
Belt and Road
Description:
"A recent decision by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, not to extend a cease-fire aimed at ethnic armed organizations excluded from a nationwide peace agreement puts the country's Belt and Road projects in further limbo.
Multiple projects have already been halted, including the key Myitsone dam hydropower project in in Myanmar's northernmost state of Kachin. But ethnic strife is not to blame. Rather, the dam has run up against nationwide opposition and an International Finance Corp. report strongly advising against damming the upper reaches of Myanmar's major rivers.
Meanwhile, work on a feasibility study for another project has been suspended as a result of the renewed hostilities. Tatmadaw forces in late September assaulted a Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army base in Kutkai, squarely in the middle of the proposed route for the China-led Muse-Lashio-Mandalay rail project in northern Shan state.
One day after fighting recommenced, a Myanma Railways spokesman announced the suspension, blaming the instability.
The attacks signal the failure of Chinese attempts to broker peace between Myanmar's vigorously independent military and a group of armed organizations known as The Northern Alliance..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Nikkei Review" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-10-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Shan State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
B462bn Chinese megaproject across the border in Myanmar threatens to eclipse economic development and progress in Mae Sot
Description:
"Border towns are often labelled as remote villages without modern infrastructure or amenities.
However, recent economic policies such as the development of special economic zones and foreign investment have led to the urbanisation of these rural areas.
A clear example of this can be seen in Mae Sot district in Tak province, located opposite to the Shwe Kokko forest area in the Myawaddy region of Myanmar.
This border enclave region is controlled by a local ethnic Karen warlord, Chit Tu, who has made peace with Myanmar's military and converted his armed units into an officially recognised Border Guard Force (BGF).
Three years ago, Jilin Yatai International Holding Group, a major investor from China, invested $US15 billion (462.6 billion baht) in a project which would see the construction of a residential, commercial and industrial hub on more than 5,085 rai of land in Shwe Kokko, located by a river in Myanmar, just over 20km away from Mae Sot district..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-06-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Thailand, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Villagers living near the site of a proposed deep-sea port in the town of Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state fear losses as the joint project with China gets under way, with fishermen already restricted from access to the sea, sources say.
With ship traffic increasing in the area of the proposed port, residents of 20 villages nearby may now fish only in a restricted area, and many have lost their livelihoods, one villager told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“Now, we are allowed to work only in one small area,” the villager named Lay Myint said. “But even with this, our families are experiencing many difficulties.”
“In my village, many have lost their jobs, and we’ve become dejected,” he said.
Part of a planned Special Economic Zone (SEZ) covering over 4,200 acres, the deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu is an important part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” development strategy, giving Beijing access to the Bay of Bengal as an alternative route for oil imports..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The Thilawa Special Economic Zone near Yangon is set to become a vital link in the East West Economic Corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam says an official from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Description:
"The East West Economic Corridor development project aims to link transportation and logistics networks to promote investment and trade between the five countries via countrywide transportation networks.
“Bridges and roads are being constructed for the east-to-west projects, and the trade flows are expected to become smoother once this is done. Besides this, industrial zones will appear along the road,” said JICA Chief Representative to Myanmar Masayuki Karasawa.
JICA expects the Myawady-Malamyine road network, being built with funding from JICA and Asian Development Bank, to be completed by 2023, while a feasibility study for new Sittaung Bridge project is being conducted, and it is expected to finish in 2026-2027..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Two steel manufacturing companies in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone near Yangon are ramping up production and set to expand their markets and products.
Description:
"JFE Meranti Myanmar Co Ltd (JMM) announced last week that it is set to introduce its first locally produced coated-steel products under the brand ALZU this December.
JMM says the products are intended for both local and export markets.
The company is a joint venture between Japanese companies JFE Steel Corp, JFE Shoji Trade Corp, Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc, and Hanwa Co Ltd, and Singapore-based Meranti Steel Pte Ltd.
JMM. is a US$85 million subsidiary owned by a Singapore-based holding company whose largest stakeholder is Japan-based JFE Steel Corp.
According to JMM, its ALZU brand will provide premium aluminum-zinc alloy-coated and colour-coated steel products. The products are designed and manufactured by JMM in Myanmar for use in roofing, walling, and other related applications for a variety of industrial, commercial, residential, and institutional projects.
“Myanmar’s economy is evolving rapidly and has huge growth potential, but the country needs good infrastructure and building materials to support it,” said JMM CEO Sebastian Langendorf.
“Many new buildings will need to be built, and old ones will need to be renovated or replaced. In order to play a key role in building the Myanmar of the future, JFE MERANTI is introducing ALZU, a durable coated-steel product that is suitable for the Myanmar climate, so developers can create buildings with long-lasting integrity.”
“We believe that leading the way with coated steel in Myanmar will allow the industry to develop into a powerful force for the nation’s development. And we plan to help secure Myanmar’s bright economic and industrial future. For us, for the industry, and for Myanmar, the launch of ALZU is just the beginning,” Langendorf, said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is prioritising nine sectors covering infrastructure projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor although more specific details as to which of the projects have been chosen remain under wraps.
These sectors, part of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, include electricity, road, bridge, telecommunication, basic construction, agriculture, transportation, research and technology.
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) deputy chair U Thein Han said that the nine prioritized sectors involve partnerships between Myanmar and Chinese firms.
He was among a group of Myanmar private sector representatives who had followed government officials led by Minister for Planning and Finance U Soe Win to the second joint committee forum of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor held in Kunming, China in late February.
It has been learnt that a number of agreements “is likely” to be inked in April when the State Counselor attends a state-level conference in Beijing related to the Belt and Road Initiative.
“Many companies want to enter the market and we will connect them with the capable companies here depending on the company size. We have plans to connect companies of various sizes,” U Thein Han said..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-03-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar and China have discussed raising the quota of rice that can exported to China from Myanmar says an official from the Myanmar Rice Federation.
400,000 tonnes of rice export to China market as legal quota, according to official.
The talks took place during the Second China Myanmar Economic Corridor Forum held in Yunnan Province, China. The Myanmar delegation to the forum was led by Planning and Finance Minister U.
The countries mainly discussed cooperation on the Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone, Muse-Mandalay railway project, and agricultural exports to China. Separately, Myanmar and China discussed rice raising rice exports to China to 400,000 tonnes.
In 2016, China permitted Myanmar to export 100,000 tonnes of rice and now Myanmar rice merchants are seeking to raise the quota by 300,000 tonnes.
U Nay Lin Zin, joint secretary of the Myanmar Rice Federation, said China is supportive of exports of rice and broken rice in the border areas and will take action to legalise such border trade..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China will Provide a grant of 1 billion yuan (225.39 billion kyats, or approximately US$148 million) for socioeconomic development projects under an economic and technical cooperation agreement signed in Beijing last week.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Monday that the 1 billion yuan would be used to support socio-economic development, particularly projects to improve people’s livelihoods, feasibility studies for major projects and humanitarian assistance for IDPs in northern Myanmar.
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently completed a six-day visit to China to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is Xi’s signature foreign policy project. Unveiled in 2013, it is also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.
The project aims to build a network of roads, railroads and shipping lanes linking at least 70 countries from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia, fostering trade and investment..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-05-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar held its first ever international investment summit late last month in Naypyitaw. The two-day event showcased 120 projects worth US$3 billion (about 4.5 trillion kyats) in 10 states and regions.
On the second day of the event, Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Minister U Thaung Tun hosted a dialogue for international guests, offering them reasons why they should invest in Southeast Asia’s “Final Best Frontier.” The government is looking for ways to revive the economy, which has been sluggish for more than two years.
“Myanmar is now open for businesses. We are making the necessary changes,” U Thaung Tun said.
A weakening currency, high inflation, armed conflict, unstable policies and the slow pace of reform have chipped away at growth under the current administration, which had hoped the economy would take wing after more than five decades of isolation under military rule.
Under the government’s “Look East” policy, officials have toured Asia beating the drum for the country’s economy. The summit was part of this attempt to raise investment from East Asian countries. More than 1,600 local and foreign delegates from 17 countries attended the summit and 40 companies exhibited. The top countries were China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Ethnic Kachin leaders from three political parties in Myanmar’s northernmost state have met with China’s ambassador to the country to discuss the faltering peace process in which the Myanmar government is trying to get its military and nearly a dozen ethnic armies to agree to a permanent cease-fire, a party representative said Monday.
They also discussed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a controversial Chinese-backed mega-dam project, and Chinese laborers working illegally in Kachin state, said G. Aung Khan, chairman of the Kachin Democratic Party (KDP), who participated in the meeting.
Ambassador Hong Liang met with the party heads on Dec. 29 in Kachin capital Myitkyina after the same Kachin leaders met with Dan Chugg, the UK’s ambassador to Myanmar, and Scot Marciel, the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, he said.
“Hong Liang had said it is a good time to work on the peace process,” he said. “It seems China can handle Myanmar’s peace process, but we want other countries to be involved.”
G. Aung Khan also said that China’s involvement in Myanmar’s peace process, a key project of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian-led government, is based on its own self-interest in mega-projects tied to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping’s U.S. $1 trillion global infrastructure-spending program..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Kachin State, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Every Morning, a pack of Burmese vendors gather their wares and approach the fence separating Muse, a border town in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State, from China’s Yunnan Province.
Sheltered by Palm Trees, they slip snacks, herbal medicine and boxes of cigarettes through small holes in the fence not much larger than milk cartons as Chinese border guards lazily observe the fracas.
If an item is too large, they wait patiently until nobody’s watching and toss it over the border.
Footsteps away, packed jade markets bustle as travelling buyers scrupulously examine the wares with magnifying glasses and consult with partners on WeChat video calls before breaking out into rapid-fire rounds of negotiation.
Trade is the beating heart of Ruili, the notorious final frontier of Yunnan as it meets Myanmar.
Once famous for sex, drugs, and gambling, the city is hard at work burying its seedier side under a meteoric spree of development.
While illicit KTVs and “massage parlours” still line the border fence, and shadier cross-border entrepreneurs deal in illegal timber and human trafficking, the two countries are preparing to make the area into a hub for China’s Belt & Road Initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-09-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Belt and Road Initiative, China, Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Special Economic Zone
Topic:
Belt and Road Initiative, China, Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Special Economic Zone
Description:
"Ever since the National League for Democracy (NLD) was elected to government at the end of 2015, Myanmar’s economy has been opening up and quietly growing steadily.
In an effort to open up its economy, the government in Myanmar has taken various steps in making the country more attractive to investors. Last year, Myanmar enacted an investment law that simplifies the investment process and allows the government to use incentives to bring in investors to various sectors of the economy.
For Myanmar, foreign direct investments (FDI) play a major role in developing the economy. In 2016 to early 2017, Myanmar received about US$6 billion in FDIs. However, foreign investment for the past couple of years has dipped.
To help boost FDI in the country, Myanmar enacted the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law to pave the way for SEZs to be established in the country. The three SEZs which are currently under development are Thilawa, Dawei and Kyaukphyu.
The Thilawa SEZ, located 25 kilometres south of Yangon, is Myanmar’s first modern industrial park. To date, only the Thilawa SEZ is open, with the rest still under development. The opening of Thilawa has been a success with total FDI in Zone A of the SEZ reaching up to US$1 billion with 95 percent occupancy. 79 firms have also decided to open up their factories or logistics hubs in this SEZ..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post"
Date of publication:
2018-08-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"With recent intense fighting in Myanmar’s northern Shan state and ongoing armed conflict in northern Rakhine state, China’s influence in the Southeast Asian country’s peace process has grown with the country’s government pushing for ethnic armed groups to meet with peace negotiators.
But not everyone in Myanmar trusts Beijing or sees its role as beneficial.
China jumped in last month after three members of the Northern Alliance group — the Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) — launched coordinated attacks on various locations in war-torn northern Shan state and neighboring Mandalay region, killing 15 Myanmar troops, policemen, and civilians.
The combined forces carried out further armed assaults on various bridges and border passages to disrupt overland trade with China in retaliation for what they said were offensives by Myanmar soldiers in areas the ethnic armies control.
As fighting intensified last month, Sun Guoxiang, special envoy for Asian affairs from China’s foreign ministry, met with the armies to express Beijing’s displeasure with the armed conflict, which has increased instability in the border region, and pressured them to stop fighting..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)"
Date of publication:
2019-09-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Non-Ceasefire Groups, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese investment in projects for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is changing the homes, economies, and environments of people across Myanmar, often in conflict zones. In some cases, those affected by the projects are calling for the government to stop or alter Chinese-backed projects due to concerns about social and environmental costs. At a minimum, local residents have questions about whether they’ll see the benefits of the developments.
The Chinese and Myanmar governments, for the most part, haven’t directly addressed these concerns.
In the case of the proposed Myitsone dam in Kachin State, the Chinese government has pushed local communities to accept the project, despite the fact that most of the benefits will go to China. Late last month, a team of Chinese experts spoke in the state’s parliament in an attempt to convince Kachin lawmakers to come out in favour of the dam. The government in Myanmar has encouraged those opposed to the project to reconsider their position.
Local communities in Rakhine State have also struggled to voice their concerns over the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ). China is pushing the Myanmar government to advance this crucial piece of the BRI but unlike in Kachin, Beijing isn’t facilitating any sort of peace process around the conflicts in the area. Instead, China is shielding Myanmar from international accountability and working to prevent Kyaukphyu from becoming “another Myitsone” by minimising public opposition..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today"
Date of publication:
2019-07-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s Government signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MOU’s) and an agreement letter with China at Beijing’s Belt and Road Forum on Thursday, detailing strengthened cooperation between the countries on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), trade and technology.
According to the Ministry of Information, Myanmar State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang were present to witness the signing of the documents.
The ministry’s statement said that a China-Myanmar Economic Corridor cooperation (2019-2030) MOU was signed by Myanmar’s Ministry of Planning and Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency.
In September, a 15-point MOU for the CMEC was signed. The economic corridor is set to be part of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which aims to construct basic infrastructure connecting key economic centres in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-04-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Canada-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A Border Guard Force and a Chinese company have teamed up to build a hi-tech city on the border north of Myawaddy, with seemingly little regard for Myanmar law and the livelihoods of the local Karen.
Description:
"THE ROAD north from the busy trading town of Myawaddy, on the border with Thailand, passes through bucolic Karen villages. The road is flanked by fields of maize and rubber plantations, with trees stretching as far as the eye can see. The area is severely under-developed; villages lack electricity and the road is in such poor condition the 16-kilometre drive north to Shwe Kokko can take about two hours.
Shwe Kokko was once a village like the others in this area: sleepy, peaceful, inviting. It is now a massive construction site home to thousands of workers. Chinese investors are partnering with a local warlord to pump billions of dollars into the project, which is already reshaping this once quiet corner of the Thai-Myanmar frontier.
When it comes to the Shwe Kokko project – a self-described “special economic zone” that has already been dubbed the “Chinatown of Kayin State” on social media in Myanmar – sorting fact from fiction can be difficult. But one thing is certain: the developers have big plans.
But who is behind this project, and why would they choose this corner of Myanmar to develop a megacity from scratch?
Shwe Kokko is being developed on a sweeping bend of the Moei River controlled by the Kayin State Border Guard Force. Formerly known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, the group was rebranded as a BGF in 2010, when it came under Tatmadaw control. In exchange for its loyalty, the BGF has been allowed to develop significant economic interests, including a mix of licit and illicit businesses. Shwe Kokko would be the largest of the lot..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-09-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Plans for an Economic Zone in Southern Myanmar will be reworked by Japan into an export base to such markets as India, in an attempt to kick start the stalled project as China expands its economic influence in the Southeast Asian Country.
The new proposal for the Dawei Special Economic Zone being developed jointly by Japan, Myanmar and Thailand will prioritise building logistics and port facilities to turn it into a base for shipping and light industry by 2030.
Japan, Thailand and Myanmar signed an agreement on developing Dawei in 2015, with Tokyo investing in the project through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The original plan was to focus on heavy industry and chemical manufacturing. But much of the land in the area remains vacant, and the planned port has yet to be built..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-07-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is proving to be a major test of strategic economic cooperation between the United States and Japan one which reveals wider foreign policy differences between the allied nations.
Those differences make substantial collaboration towards realising a “free and open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) in specific countries difficult, despite joint strategic interests and aligned high-level political visions.
In Japan’s pursuit of a policy response to China’s infrastructure Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), economic cooperation with partners in third countries to beef up the financing on offer has emerged as a key component.
Strategic commercial cooperation is arguably most opportune and necessary in Myanmar because the country is at a fraught stage in its democratisation, set into motion in 2010 when it pivoted to form closer ties with countries like the United States and Japan in order to reduce economic over-dependence on China..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Burma's economic relations with the USA, Japan-Burma relations, USA-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The Myanmar Government is ready to sign a framework agreement with China on the establishment of cross-border economic cooperation zones, paving the way for the implementation of Beijing’s grand infrastructure plans in the country as part of its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).
The assistant permanent secretary and spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, U Khin Maung Lwin, told The Irrawaddy, “The related Government Ministries have already reviewed a framework agreement proposal submitted by China.”
“We received comments from the related Ministries. We also reviewed the proposal with experts. We will send the proposal back to China. Our side is preparing to sign [a framework agreement] very soon,” he said.
According to U Khin Maung Lwin, the framework will cover a number of major agreements, particularly on the formation of a bilateral joint committee for the implementation of the cross-border economic cooperation zones; the assignment of management roles for the zones; and types of incentives for investors..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-08-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"India, being a peninsular country, considers oceans as a global common. So how can it neutralise China’s over lordship and policing of waters given the latter’s growing military presence?
President Ram Nath Kovind may have sought to deepen our civilisational links and hoped to build on a shared anti-colonial narrative with Myanmar during his visit to that country but semantics cannot paper over the fact that our neighbour has signed the Kyaukpyu deep sea project with China in November and that could pose a security threat to India.
This is particularly worrying considering the Chinese are attempting to ring the Indian Ocean with its “string of pearls diplomacy” and hem India in, already acquiring strategic depth with the Pakistani port of Gwadar and the Sri Lankan one at Hambantota.
Yes, the President did emphasise on strengthening bilateral cooperation through increased connectivity, capacity-building and growing commercial and cultural exchanges. And it is true that Myanmar is also unhappy about China’s economic imperialism by creating debt traps for smaller states in the region as part of its Belt and Road Initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Blessed with a strategic location between India and China in the centre of Southeast Asia, as well as direct access to the Indian Ocean, Myanmar is a source of envy for neighbouring countries.
It should come as no surprise that the region’s most powerful players like China and Japan are competing with each other to establish three major South and Southeast Asian economic corridors in the country from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, while
India is pushing for a cross-border transport system and sea route project with Myanmar. Make no mistake: None of those corridors would be complete without Myanmar due to its geographical importance.
In the meantime, from the country’s west in Rakhine, to the south in Yangon and Tanintharyi, north in Kachin, central region in Mandalay and areas on the Chinese border in Shan State, 10 mega-infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars that are related to these corridors and India’s cross-border project are on their way for Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-08-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The Myanmar Government recently agreed to begin work on key projects under the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) agreement which is part of Chinese’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Experts, including voices from the World Bank, have pointed out that Myanmar’s growth will largely depend on major BRI infrastructure projects that get underway this year.
The 1,700-kilometre-long CMEC will start in China’s Yunnan Province, go through Myanmar’s major economic cities – Mandalay in central Myanmar, the commercial capital of Yangon—and reach the coast at Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. The proposal includes upgrades to three major roads through Mandalay and Muse on the Myanmar side of the border with China, and some other roads in Shan State.
An estimated $2 billion will be spent in the initial stages of the project which is expected to be made up of 24 projects in total..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"An economic zone will soon be built in Kanpaiktee at the Myanmar - China border, according to Ministry of Commerce.
At the zone there will be truck parking, warehouses, and modern equipment to check installed.
The President Office has ordered the central and working committee concerning building of Myanmar-China border economic cooperation zone to perform coordinated tasks and they have been carried out, claimed Deputy Minister for Commerce Aung Htoo.
He continued saying that there will be basic infrastructure such as staff housing, weighing machines, and X-ray machines will all be a part of the economic zone.
As China is Myanmar’s largest border trade partner, the economic zone, when complete, will help substantially in promoting local goods and services as well as create job opportunities for Myanmar citizens. It will offer a wider scope for bilateral trade cooperation including schemes to invest in factories and mills as well as develop a more robust tourism sector. Over a longer term, the economic zone is also expected to help raise exports across the border, helping to reduce the country’s trade deficit..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group"
Date of publication:
2019-07-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China’s new ambassador to Myanmar said he would push for deeper “practical cooperation” on Beijing’s grand infrastructure projects in the country while working to advance bilateral relations.
One day after President U Win Myint accepted the credentials of Ambassador Chen Hai in Naypyitaw, the Chinese Embassy issued a statement on Wednesday regarding their discussion in the Credentials Hall at the Presidential Palace.
Chen said China and Myanmar currently maintain good relations but said he expected many new opportunities to improve it would arise.
The 20th Chinese ambassador to Myanmar vowed to advance mutual trust between the two countries and deepen “practical cooperation” on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), under which it plans to implement more than three dozen projects, including mega-infrastructure projects, in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-06-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"If China wants to fish in Myanmar’s troubled waters, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)-linked Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State is a good place to cast a line; those projects will face as much controversy and objection as did the Myitsone dam near Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital, said Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association (KRDA) coordinator U Tun Kyi.
“Whoever accepts Chinese projects, if those (projects) do not bring positive impacts to the Arakanese people, then we will definitely oppose them, as was done in the Myitsone campaign,” he said.
His message comes after a three-day visit to Kyakphyu in July by Chinese ambassador Chen Hai, who was appointed ambassador to Myanmar just a few months ago. The Kyaukphyu visit was his first to a BRI-related project in the country.
Conflict between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar’s military (or Tatmadaw) has racked Rakhine State for months, displacing more than 50,000 so far and killing more than 70 local Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims since the beginning of the year.
Eight townships in the north of the state—home to more than a million people—have been living without internet access since June 21 under the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government’s internet shutdown.
With the human rights situation in Rakhine State sharply deteriorating, the Chinese diplomat’s decision to visit Kyaukphyu raised eyebrows among Arakanese business circles and with observers and lawmakers, who wondered if the visit had a hidden agenda behind it..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-08-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Japan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone is one of nation’s few economic and infrastructure success stories
Description:
"Every morning hundreds of cars, trucks and other vehicles carrying factory workers squeeze into a two-lane bridge across Yangon’s Bago river.
The buzz of industrial activity results in often nightmarish traffic jams, a rare phenomenon for Myanmar’s still nascent and in many ways hamstrung manufacturing sector.
Initiated by then-president Thein Sein in 2013, the Japan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is widely viewed by business leaders as Myanmar’s foremost economic success story.
It also has advocates in high political places, with de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi repeatedly hailing Thilawa as a “crowning success” that “highlights the type of positive partnership that can be achieved between our respective public and private sectors.”
The 2,500-hectare Thilawa has so far secured over US$1.6 billion in approved investment, including from multinationals such as German retail group Metro AG, US aluminum can manufacturer Ball and Japanese automaker Toyota..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times"
Date of publication:
2019-08-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Burma's economic relations with China, Japan-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"If Myanmar is to break an addiction to methamphetamine production that has seen it become one of the world’s largest suppliers there is one country above all others that must act: China.
That’s according to a report released on Tuesday that highlighted how complexities in the relationship between the two countries are being exploited by armed separatists who are producing thousands of tonnes of the drug in the “Golden Triangle” of Myanmar’s Shan state, an area that is already the world’s second-largest heroin-producing region.
Chemicals used in the production of the drug have been flowing over the state’s border with China, according to the NGO International Crisis Group (ICG), which says China should take a tougher line against the drug-producing armed separatist groups seen as being under its influence.
China has a complex relationship with the groups, many of which arose out of the splintering of the Communist Party of Burma and claim an ideological and cultural kinship with the People’s Republic of China. As Patrick Winn, an expert on organised crime in Southeast Asia, says: “You can see the fallout from the Chinese civil war written into the landscape of the drug trade today.”..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post"
Date of publication:
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) - Myanmar, Burma: opium and heroin, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is sandwiched between two very large neighbours – China and India. Relations with China are not currently cordial, especially among the Myanmar people, who retain memories of numerous undue political and economic interactions and incidents.
Historically, China is seen as an intruder rather than an equal partner, and even investments from China have unfair terms. In addition, regular border conflicts add to the already growing suspicion and negative image of China. India, on the other hand, plays a much smaller role. Its biggest investment in Myanmar is through the Kalaton project which is worth just US$ 8.5 million. The previous government tried a two-prong strategy – one prong to develop ties with pro-west India and another to facilitate China’s goal of having access to the Indian Ocean.
China is implementing the One Belt, One Road initiative. Three interesting observations can be made about the current geopolitical situation here:
First, China’s One Belt, One Road appears to exclude Myanmar. Secondly, United Wa State Army (UWSA) is taking a lead over other seven Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), and is trying to replace the Myanmar government-sponsored Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with another ceasefire agreement. Thirdly, the UWSA’s Pangsang Summit declared that the One Belt, One Road strategy of China might have positive direct impacts on Myanmar’s ethnic regions.
The Pangsang Summit was held on February 22, organised by UWSA and Mongla Army/ National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA). NCA non-signatory groups – Arakan Army, Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Shan State Army and two special guests – also attended the summit.
Some attendees to Pangsang Summit are also members of United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). The UNFC is currently negotiating with the government in order to sign the NCA. Meanwhile, the Wa group and its partners have demanded a new ceasefire agreement instead of the NCA..."
Source/publisher:
Mekong Eye
Date of publication:
2017-03-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Foreign investors are still showing interest in Rakhine State despite sanctions and international pressure applied due to the political unrest. And now that the state has better access to electricity, conditions are looking better for businesses to enter the state or expand.
Topic:
Foreign investors are still showing interest in Rakhine State despite sanctions and international pressure applied due to the political unrest. And now that the state has better access to electricity, conditions are looking better for businesses to enter the state or expand.
Description:
"Projects related to China’s One Belt, One Road initiative remain a focus, with the Kyaukphyu special economic zone (SEZ), which comprises a deep-sea port, industrial park and housing, being a major pull of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the state. The industrial park will support businesses involved in aquaculture, livestock and garment industries while the deep-sea port and its facilities will connect Myanmar with a regional network of economies including China, India and Asean.
Plans to develop the SEZ was first announced in September 2013 and a consortium led by Beijing-based CITIC Group Corporation Ltd that included Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group Co Ltd was awarded the project at the end of 2015. However, it was not until November last year that a framework agreement was signed between the Myanmar government and CITIC, which also saw the original price-tag of US$7.5 billion reduced to US$1.3 billion.
Rakhine State chief minister U Nyi Pu said among the projects within the SEZ, Forging The Future Co Ltd and Myanmar Bright Prospect International Logistics Co Ltd have proposals to set up prawn farming, support a jetty project on Made island and build a five-star hotel on Ramree island..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-08-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s government signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and an agreement letter with China at Beijing’s Belt and Road Forum on Thursday, detailing strengthened cooperation between the countries on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), trade and technology.
According to the Ministry of Information, Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang were present to witness the signing of the documents.
The ministry’s statement said that a China-Myanmar Economic Corridor cooperation (2019-2030) MOU was signed by Myanmar’s Ministry of Planning and Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency.
In September, a 15-point MOU for the CMEC was signed. The economic corridor is set to be part of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which aims to construct basic infrastructure connecting key economic centers in Myanmar. Under the MOU, the governments agree to collaborate on projects in a number of sectors including basic infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, finance, human resources development, telecommunications, and research and technology..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-04-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"An office of China-Myanmar Economic Corridor of the China Enterprises Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar (CECCM) was inaugurated in the Myanmar capital on Friday.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the office in Zabuthiri town, Myanmar Deputy Minister of Commerce U Aung Htoo expressed his belief that the office could help offer better job opportunities for the trade link between the two countries.
The 1,060-km pipeline that carries crude oil and natural gas from the Middle East to China and links Myanmar's coastal town Kyaukphyu with southwest China's Kunming city, is part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang said the branch office in Nay Pyi Taw promotes communication and cooperation between the CECCM and relevant Myanmar government departments. It also helps the Chinese embassy better implement its work and benefits companies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Secretary-General of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) U Aung Kyi Soe said the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor Office will help entrepreneurs of the two countries run their business transparently and smoothly and also help create job opportunities for the people..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua Net"
Date of publication:
2019-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The Chinese-backed Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone is shaping Myanmar’s conflict with the Arakan Army. Rakhine communities will benefit little from the project while bearing many of the costs, and it ignores their calls for control over the area’s natural
Description:
"Resource-rich Ramree Island, on the coast of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, has remained on the sidelines of recent violence as fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) continues to intensify. But the Myanmar government’s relations with the AA are now increasingly shaped by pressure from Beijing to advance the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a US$1.3 billion Chinese-backed development project based on Ramree.
The Myanmar government and Chinese state-owned CITIC Group are pushing the Kyaukphyu SEZ ahead despite public opposition. There has been limited transparency and inadequate public consultation with communities affected by the project.
The movement for Rakhine autonomy and federalism calls for local control of natural resources as a key tenet. If the National League for Democracy (NLD) government moves ahead with the Kyaukphyu projects without addressing these issues, it risks prolonging the conflict with the AA, making repatriation for the Rohingya increasingly risky and unlikely.
“The communities hope to have their own laws, their own management, their own regulation of natural resources and government – that’s why the Rakhine people support the AA, because they want their rights,” Tun Kyi, a spokesperson for the community-based organisation the Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association, told ASEAN Today..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today"
Date of publication:
2019-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma-US relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A Shanghai blockchain company claimed it intended to set up a special economic zone in a rebel-held border area of eastern Shan State where it would issue digital currencies and IDs to the local population.
Description:
"Executives from Shellpay Internet Technology Co, in a Channel News Asia (CNA) broadcasting programme aired last December, said that the firm was granted a piece of land by the general office of “Peaceful Liberation Alliance of 7 States” in April 2018 as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to issue digital coins and e-citizenship.
Jane Zhang Hong, CEO of Shellpay and who identified herself as the director of the SEZ’s digital economy bureau, said the objective is to “improve" the "dirt-poor" locals and develop the region.
She told CNA that she wanted to create “the world's first digital economy experiment with 40 million people [in Myanmar] who are dirt-poor” through a “Yongbang SEZ”.
The disputed area, covering 220 square kilometres, is located within the Mong La Special Administrative Region 4 in eastern Shan. Run by the rebel group known as the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), the enclave bordering China’s Yunnan province is known for being a infamous hub for prostitution, gambling and crime. The rebels signed a Union-level ceasefire agreement in December 2011.
Despite legally under Nay Pyi Taw’s sovereignty, Mong La functions more as an integral part of China than of Myanmar, with Chinese business people, linked to business activities in Yunnan, running hotels, restaurants, shops, brothels and casinos, catering for the thousand of Chinese customers visiting Mong La every day. Chinese language and Chinese yuan are used..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-02-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
more
Description:
"At a fruit market in Wanding, Ruili, a county on the China-Myanmar border, workers are transferring watermelons and muskmelons from Myanmar to heavy trucks which will soon leave for Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in China.
"Burmese fruit tastes good and enjoys great popularity among Chinese people," Said Liu Hongfang, a manager of the market. "About 400 Burmese trucks (3,000 metric tons) of fruit come and go in the market every day."
Thanks to closer cooperation between China and Myanmar, the company has expanded its scale and business, built refrigeration houses in Wanding and worked with locals of Mandalay to grow watermelon.
There are only about 400 kilometers from Mandalay to Myanmar's border town of Muse, next to Ruili in Southwest China's Yunnan province, but it would take the truck drivers two days because of the narrow and zigzag roads, according to Liu.
"What's worse, if a traffic accident occurs, the fruit will rot on the road," she added..."
Source/publisher:
"Chinadaily"
Date of publication:
2019-02-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Behind closed doors, Myanmar has moved a step closer to approving the ambitious, multi-billion dollar China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
Description:
"then Minister for Planning and Finance U Kyaw Win arrived at the State Guesthouse in Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan Province, to meet Mr Ning Jizhe, vice chairperson of China’s National Development and Reform Commission.
Kyaw Win was three days into a visit to China with a delegation of 56 businesspeople from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the country’s peak business body.
That morning, he negotiated a draft Memorandum of Understanding for the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a wide-reaching initiative that was formally announced by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi in November 2017.
The CMEC agreement is two things. First, it is a physical corridor that would connect China’s landlocked Yunnan through Mandalay to Kyaukphyu and Yangon, on new roads and a high-speed railway, in what Wang called a “three-pillar giant cooperation pattern”.
Second, it is a conceptual corridor. The overall aim is greater economic integration through initiatives such as industrial zones, trade quotas and tax breaks, but the CMEC can also include cooperation in areas not directly connected to the economy, such as disaster mitigation and public health.
The CMEC agreement is likely to see tens of billions of dollars of investment funnelled into Myanmar from private and state-owned Chinese firms under the One Belt, One Road initiative.
Despite the significance of the agreement for Myanmar’s future, the talks have taken place behind closed doors and with almost no public consultation. State media did not report on Kyaw Win’s trip to Kunming, and details of the February talks were not made public..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2018-09-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"In South Asia now, geo-economics seems all set to shape the region's geo-politics with Beijing's ambitious US$
50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), designed ostensibly to integrate economies of the restive
Xingian and western provinces with that of Pakistan. But its real strategic objective is to develop the sea ports
of Pakistan's Baluchistan to enable western China and the energy-rich Central Asian republics to gain
unfettered access to the Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
In this background, China’s reported move to build an economic corridor with Myanmar is cause for some
concern in India. The idea of a separate China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) was pushed through during
the recent visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Myanmar following his successful efforts to persuade
Myanmar and Bangladesh to discuss the Rohingya problem across the table and work out a framework of
agreement to a phased programme of their repatriation to Rakhine. The Chinese have apparently done a lot of
hard work to bring home to the Myanmarese Army the point that the global community and the UN system will
never accept the expulsion of Rohingyas as it violates human rights and the customary international law of
citizenship.
The significance of Chinese intervention, the first time in history in a long-drawn-out dispute involving two
states, which till 1935, were parts of the British Raj, cannot be missed by strategic analysts, as it has demonstrated growing Chinese influence in Myanmar and Bangladesh, both of which share borders with India and are
of vital importance to the success of India’s Act East Policy.
The CMEC might have come as a surprise as it runs parallel to the Bangladesh-China-India and Myanmar
Initiative (BCIM), but the fact remains that it has been a non-starter, especially after China launched CPEC,
which passes through the areas of Jammu and Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan and is seen as a
China-led initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Institut für Strategie- Politik- Sicherheits- und Wirtschaftsberatung (ISPSW)"
Date of publication:
2018-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
158.21 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"THILAWA, Myanmar: A Japan-backed special economic zone in Myanmar is expanding as an alternative production hub for China and Vietnam, attracting growing numbers of Japanese and other foreign firms to the outskirts of Yangon.
More than half of the total developed area of 5.83 million square metres in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone is already occupied, said Tomoyasu Shimizu, president of Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd, or MJTD, the operator of the economic zone.
Since its opening in 2015, 105 companies have moved into the zone or signed tenancy contracts through last month, with 90 firms under full foreign ownership and 13 foreign-Myanmar joint ventures..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post"
Date of publication:
2019-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with Japan, Other Special Economic Zones, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The environmental and social impact assessment process for the China-backed port project in central Rakhine has started but questions arise whether developers are using the right legal framework.
Description:
"State-owned enterprise CITIC, in charge of the proposed US$1.3 billion Kyaukphyu port, kick-started the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and preliminary geological survey this month.
The company said Canadian firm Hatch was hired as project manager to supervise the process and recruit the ESIA project consultants and contractors.
On July 2, CITIC held the first stakeholder meetings at the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Management Committee office in Yangon, and made site visits to the Madae Island.
It said it would “develop participation mechanisms for all stakeholders of the project in order to take extensive and adequate consultation” as part of the ESIA process. The preparation work will be carried out “in a rigorous, open and transparent manner.”
The idea of building a port and an industrial park in Kyaukphyu was mooted by the U Thein Sein government in 2015, which greenlighted the consortium led by CITIC to come up with a plan to establish a $7.5 billion SEZ in central Rakhine. A corporate promotional video suggests the scheme will create an investment and logistics hub akin to Hong Kong and Singapore. The government last November signed a “framework agreement” with CITIC. Myanmar will own 30 percent of the stake and the project will cost $1.3 billion. European and Japanese investors are unlikely to set up shop in the port or the industrial park, Yangon-based sources said.
However, confusion arises over the legal framework currently adopted by the developers. Myanmar’s environmental law demands a site-wide environmental impact assessment for a project of this size and scope, which should include an assessment of both environmental and social impacts.
CITIC’s latest press statement suggests that its current ESIA process is specifically for the port and not an SEZ.
If there’s to be an SEZ, that must be incorporated in the site-wise assessment, according to ICJ legal adviser Sean Bain. If the SEZ plan is scrapped and only a port project is planned, then it’s likely CITIC is operating under the wrong legal framework because the Investment Law would apply instead of the SEZ Law..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Times
Date of publication:
2019-07-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma-US relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Exclusive: The location for Myanmar's first deep-sea port will be decided next year, according to a senior government official.
Description:
""Construction of a Yangon deep-sea port is one of the projects included as second priority in the National Transport Master Plan. Work is being made and the location can be finally selected and approved within 2020," U Aung Ye Tun, assistant secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, told The Myanmar Times.
Asked about the cost and project details, he said an analysis would be conducted before construction work begins.
"Only after the analysis is completed, approval will be made regarding the implementation method, that is, whether it is done by a public-private partnership model or by a loan."
In addition, the government will establish six inland ports in Bhamo (Bamaw), Upper Myanmar in Mandalay, Pakokku and Magway, and Monywa on Chindwin River, the official said.
"Our priority is in Mandalay and we will start construction in this coming October. The port [in Mandalay] will finish [construction] in March 2021. We intend to construct the remaining ports in the near future."
Businesses welcomed U Aung Ye Tun's intervention.
"U Aung Ye Tun has made a very helpful clarification on an issue which the industry is watching closely. A deep-sea port will be important for Myanmar's trade growth in the long term because existing capacity won't be able to cope. Larger vessel also lowers the ocean logistics cost," an industrialist, who asked not to be named, commented.
"The government is right to start planning this early on. The location will be a key factor in determining the logistics cost deriving from the land transport connecting the port. It is also equally important that the government pays attention to more pressing problems as well, such as improving the customs process," he added.
During an industry discussion in Nay Pyi Taw last month, U Aung Ye Tun listed some criteria for the facility, including water depth, transport infrastructure and connectivity to industrial zones..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Water Portal via "Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-07-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
China’s influence in Myanmar manifests on three different levels. At the bilateral level, the government and the military establishment of Myanmar receives diplomatic dividends for maintaining good ties with China. At the domestic political level, China’s relations with the country’s ethnic organizations makes it an important stakeholder in the ongoing reconciliation process. Finally, at the economic level, a lack of alternatives makes Naypyidaw reliant on Chinese investments, thereby ensuring favorable policies towards China over the longer term, notwithstanding regime changes.
Despite Myanmar’s increasing outreach to the outside world, Chinese engagement with the military and political elites in the country is still strong. Although Aung San Suu Kyi’s relationship with China has been complicated given her stature as a pro-democracy leader, in her more recent political career as State Counsellor she has a pragmatic route with regard to foreign policy. Her official visits to China have been viewed as largely fruitful, resulting in a greater understanding between the two countries, and helping shield Myanmar from international ostracism.
Source/publisher:
The Diplomat
Date of publication:
2019-05-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
English
more