Construction of GMS sectional highway begins in Myanmar

China View

YANGON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Construction of one more sectional highway, which is included in the East-West Economic Corridor and covered by the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Program, has begun, the local Voice news journal reported Tuesday.

Quoting Minister of Commerce Brigadier-General Tin Naing Thein who met local entrepreneurs recently, the report said the 22-km road to be built lies between Thingan Nyinaung and Kawkareik in southeastern Kayin state after a ground survey was made earlier this year.

The overall Myanmar section in the GMS East-West Economic Corridor, which stretches as Myawaddy-Thingan Nyinaung-Kawkareik-Mawlamyine with a total length of about 1,400 km, stands on the Asian Highway.

The prior 18-km Myawaddy-Thingan Nyinaung section was completed with the assistance of Thailand last year, it said.

The East-West Economic Corridor under the GMS program links the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal, which is from Vietnam's Danang Port in the East to Myanmar's Mawlamyine in the West. The Mawlamyine-Danang land route will take only 1,000 km whereas the sea route which passes through the Malacca Straits takes 4,000 km.

Once the remaining 1,360-km section from Kawkareik to Mawlamyine, where a planned deep-sea port locates, is built, it will provide a link to Europe through Asia's China, India and Thailand, experts said.

The deep seaport project at Mawlamyine in Myanmar's southern Mon state, which will contribute to the development of the East-West corridor in terms of regional cross-border transportation and trade, has been underway. On completion of the project, Myanmar will become a key seaport in the GMS region and will benefit from being lying in the corridor.

The development of the East-West Economic Corridor constitutes part of the strategic program for the current decade starting 2002of the six GMS countries -- Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The GMS economic cooperation program was initiated by the Asian Development Bank in 1992.

Meanwhile, the Asian highway constitutes a network of 140,000 km of roads crisscrossing the continent and linking up to Europe. The network, which will signify promotion of regional integration and cooperation, is expected to be completed by 2010.