Thailand, Myanmar to jointly develop Dawei deep seaport

NEW YORK, September 27 (TNA) - Thai and Myanmar leaders have agreed to form a joint committee to supervise the construction of the Dawei deep-sea port in Myanmar. During her ongoing trip to attend the 67th United Nations General Assembly in New York, from September 23-29, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met Myanmar President Thein Sein on Wednesday local time to discuss Thai-Myanmar cooperation on the development of the Dawei deep seaport and other development projects in Myanmar. Yingluck told TNA after the bilateral discussion that she and the Myanmar President have initially agreed on the structure of the Thai-Myanmar joint committee tasked with driving the development of the Dawei deep seaport in Myanmar, with each country working out details and setting meeting schedules of the joint panel. Yingluck acknowledged that Thailand will host the first meeting of the Thai-Myanmar joint committee and will also invite the Myanmar Cabinet to attend it, as both countries plan to announce their cooperation in the project at the 2012 ASEAN Summit in November. According to the Thai prime minister, Deputy Prime Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong will represent Thailand as the co-chair of the Thai-Myanmar joint committee for the development of the Dawei deep seaport; while a Myanmar vice president will be the co-chair representing Myanmar. Premier Yingluck said that Myanmar wants to speed up the construction of other necessary infrastructure projects; so, Thailand is also interested in forming joint working groups for other development projects in Myanmar, namely economic zones, and that the Thai industry minister will soon visit Myanmar to discuss the issue, as the Thai private sector is interested in investing in the Thilawa Industrial Zone in Yangon, in which Japan has already participated in the form of joint ventures. The Thai prime minister noted that she also informed the Myanmar president Thailand is supporting the construction of a road from Mae Sot district in Tak province of the northwestern Thai region through Myawaddy to Kokarek in Myanmar, and that Myanmar then asked Thailand to extend the road to its Moh Lamyai and Moh Lamang areas to connect with Thailand and India. The Thai premier revealed that during the bilateral talks, she also extended an official gratitude for Myanmar’s recent release of 83 Thai people who had been arrested for illegal immigration and forest encroachment in Myanmar's border areas, opposite Thailand's southern Ranong province in July. (TNA)