Prayut vows to push ahead with Dawei and border economic projects
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Thailand and Myanmar have agreed during Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha's visit to mobilise all means available to move ahead with the Dawei Special Economic Zone mega-project for the benefit of Asean as a whole and border development.
“The Dawei project is a joint development between Thailand and Myanmar. If we can build up confidence, more investors would be keen to join the scheme,” Prayut told reporters yesterday.
Initiated during the Thaksin Shinawatra government, the multibillion-dollar project is aimed as a strategic node for regional logistics and connectivity to link not only Thailand and Myanmar but also the entire Asean region and South Asia.
The previous government of Yingluck Shinawatra, which was toppled in a coup by Prayut in May, struggled to inject capital into the project. The idea to bring Japan in as the third party has not yet been realised.
There had been doubts earlier whether the Prayut government would push on with the project.
Government Spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said Thailand and Myanmar were ready to move ahead with the project. The Thai government has donated a small hospital for local residents in the Dawei area, he said.
Dawei Development Co, a subsidiary of Italian-Thai Development (ITD), earlier expressed strong confidence that the Dawei industrial estate and deep-sea port project would progress after Prayut’s visit.
ITD struggle
ITD, Thailand’s leading construction firm, had struggled to get the US$8-billion (Bt260-billion) project off the ground, as it was faced with funding problems, complicated land expropriation in Myanmar, and the political turmoil in Thailand. The project spreads over 200 square kilometres in the Dawei Special Economic Zone, west of Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province.
Prayut yesterday wrapped up his first visit to Myanmar, his first foreign trip as prime minister. Besides the Dawei project, he also discussed with Myanmar President Thein Sein a wide range of bilateral and regional issues and cooperation.
Both sides focused on security and development of the border areas as the main priorities in relations between the two countries.
Prayut informed Thein Sein that Thailand would develop a special economic zone in Mae Sot district, a border gate to Myanmar’s Myawaddy, for the benefit of people along the border areas, Yongyuth said.
Thailand has repaired the first Friendship Bridge across the Meoi River and a feasibility study for the second bridge has been completed, he said. Thailand also urged Myanmar to consider legalisation of convertible currency between the baht and Myanmar’s kyat in border areas, he said.
The two leaders also discussed regulation of migrant labour in Thailand, where millions of Myanmar workers live and work legally and illegally. Thailand wanted to provide legal protection to migrant workers and prevent human trafficking, the PM said.
Thein Sein expressed his gratitude to Prayut for choosing Myanmar for his first foreign visit. Thailand is important for Myanmar’s development, Yongyuth quoted the president as telling Prayut.
Myanmar has established centres in border areas near Mae Sai, Mae Sot and Ranong to combat human trafficking and coordinate with Thailand for that purpose.
During the visit, Prayut donated Bt3 million to Myanmar for renovation of a kindergarten in Pyin Ma Nar and a car for a mobile blood-donation unit, Yongyuth said.
