Junta to push ahead with Kyaukphyu-Mandalay railroad

By Admin 26 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
26 August 2023, Sittwe

The Myanmar regime is pushing ahead with construction of a China-backed railroad linking Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu with Mandalay.

Speaking at an economic committee meeting on Friday, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing called for rapid implementation of the Dawei deep-sea port and the railroad, saying those infrastructure projects will facilitate the development of Myanmar.

“Upon completion, the railroad will speed up commodity flows,” Min Aung Hlaing told the meeting.

The railroad project has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and political situation in 2021, said Min Aung Hlaing. He did not, however, give details about the progress of the project.

Myanmar’s economy has been in free fall since the coup, with many foreign investors ditching their operations in the military-ruled country. But Min Aung Hlaing boasted that the Kyaukphyu, Dawei and Thilawa special economic zones, once completed and fully operational, can benefit not only Myanmar but also neighbouring countries.

The regime is attempting to implement those projects to win support from Myanmar people and the international community as it is faced with a political and economic crisis, said political observers inside the country.

“They are just dreaming to implement those projects. They are only using those projects to deceive people as political and economic crises deepen,” said political observer U Than Soe Naing.

The Kyaukphyu-Mandalay railroad is part of the China-backed Kyaukphyu special economic zone linking China’s Kunming with Kyaukphyu through Mandalay and Muse in northern Shan State.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries in 2011, and the two sides exchanged a feasibility study report on the railroad project during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar in 2020, according to the Institute for Strategy and Policy.

Observers say the armed conflicts across Myanmar pose a serious challenge to the railroad project.

Politician U Pe Than said: “It is not easy to implement the railroad project while the whole country is in chaos. [Min Aung Hlaing] said so probably because of pressures from China. I don’t think it is possible to implement the railroad project.”