Clarifying some inaccuracies

We wish to point out that the article contains serious inaccuracies, including in the quote attributed to me.

I had already explained to your reporter that the Bloomberg article did not accurately reflect my views on the subject. I am therefore disappointed that your article has repeated the earlier inaccuracies in the Bloomberg article despite my clarifications.

Just to reiterate, Dawei is at the western end of the Southern Economic Corridor, a route extending from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand to the Andaman Sea, a gateway to markets in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Construction of this corridor is a key infrastructure project being planned by Asean members and has the potential to emerge as an important economic gateway for the Greater Mekong Subregion, one that could shorten transport time by as much as three days. The implications of such a development to the region’s companies and consumers are tremendous.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has not had operations in Myanmar since the 1980s, and any resumption of lending operations is subject to satisfactory progress in the country’s engagement with the international community, and a resolution of arrears. At present, ADB is carrying out a series of economic and sector assessments on Myanmar to deepen our knowledge of core aspects of economic governance.

I have discussed the Dawei Development Project (DDP) with Ital-Thai Corporation representatives and have suggested that, in addition to the above mentioned constraints, due diligence would be required before ADB could consider support. However, the DDP is an interesting undertaking and ADB will be monitoring developments closely. 

Craig Steffensen

Country Director, ADB’s Thailand Resident Mission