Partners line up for transport overhaul

 It can typically take about two hours to make the 91-kilometre trip from Yangon to Bago, and the gridlock on local roads is also undermining the country’s goal of better connections with its neighbours.
But help is coming from abroad and the chief contributor is Japan, via the government’s investment arm, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The agency assisted with the preparation of the National Transport Master Plan, which was approved by the Myanmar government in 2015, and the Urban Transport Master Plan for Yangon – the city that will underpin Myanmar’s economic growth in the next decade.
Thailand, through the Highways Department, provided $40 million (Bt1.4 billion) in financial assistance for the construction and improvement of the road from the border at Mae Sot that runs from Myawaddy to Kawkariek. The project included the rehabilitation of 18 kilometres of road between Myawaddy and Thin Gan Nyi Naung, and the construction of 28 kilometres on a new alignment from Thin Gan Nyi Naung to Kawkareik. The road was completed in April 2015.
China is involved with the development of the Kyaukphyu special economic zone and related port, and railway development projects connecting China with the Bay of Bengal.
India is involved in the 1,400-kilometre India-Myanmar-Thailand highway project which is scheduled for completion in 2020. For the first overland link between India and Southeast Asia, India will construct 69 bridges. South Korea is assisting the government through the preparation of the master plan for the Arterial Road Network Development. The study will assess potential investment opportunities in the development of the expressway network.
Road transport now dominates long-distance travel in Myanmar, carrying 90 per cent of freight transport and 86 per cent of passenger transport. However, transport is one of the most severe obstacles to investment. Under military rule, little construction and maintenance had been carried out, with 1-1.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on these purposes in the past decade. 
Myanmar’s transport sector is managed by city development committees from Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, and Yangon, as well as six ministries: the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Rail Transportation, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry for Border Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
According to Asian Development Bank’s “Myanmar Transport Sector Policy Note” for decision makers released in August, it is estimated that Myanmar needs to invest $45 billion to $60 billion in transport projects over the next 15 years if it wants to reduce transport costs by close to 30 per cent. With the investment, Myanmar would also see its annual GDP grow by $40 billion, providing basic road access to close to 10 million people, and save 40,000 lives on the roads, the bank said.
Fatalities from road crashes rose from 2,173 in 2009 to 4,314 in 2014. According to hospital data, 31–36 per cent of injured people admitted to Myanmar’s hospitals were hurt in crashes.
Because of insufficient maintenance, Myanmar’s transport infrastructure declined between 1990 and 2015 to well below international standards. A 2014 survey by the ADB found that 60 per cent of the trunk-road network is in poor or bad condition, requiring urgent maintenance or rehabilitation. The network is three times less dense than Thailand’s. It is also of lower quality - only 20 per cent of the roads are paved, against 53 per cent in Thailand – and the roads are narrower.
To help improve transport infrastructure, budget allocation should be raised to 3-4 per cent of GDP. The ADB has vowed its readiness to allocate at least $100 million a year over the next five years. There are also high hopes that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, of which Myanmar is a member, will step in.
With a higher budget, Myanmar should allocate the money to key national corridors, Yangon infrastructure and maintenance work. Yielding the highest impact on the public would be investment in bus rapid-transit lines, parking and traffic management and circular railways in Yangon. 
Equally important is the upgrade of national and international corridors, like the road link from Myawaddy to Muse, the modernisation of the rail link from Yangon to Mandalay, implementation of low-cost navigation aids in the Ayeyarwaddy River, plus improving access to rural areas. Train services should be upgraded while water transport options should be explored.
Aside from upgrading the domestic transport network, better connectivity with neighbouring countries should be a priority.
Connectivity is indeed a main part of the National Transport Master Plan, completed with JICA’s assistance. One of these priority corridors includes the project road, the Greater Mekong Subregion East–West Economic Corridor.
While Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay will play a role as national growth centres, earmarked for prominence as regional growth centres are Myitkyina in Kachin State, Sittwe/Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State, Pathein in Ayeyarwady Region, Bago (Hanthawaddy), Mawlamyine in Mon State, and Dawei in Tanintharyi Region.
The plan also highlights Lashio, Shwebo, Kale, Monywa, Meiktila, Taunggyi, Taungoo, Magway, Pyay, Hinthada, Thaton, and Hpa-an as agro-industrial centres.
The JICA estimated that the five-year plan would demand an investment of about $11 billion until 2030 in all the fields of aviation, roads, rail, harbours and inland water transportation, if Myanmar wanted to maintain an annual economic growth rate of 7.2 per cent.