Italian-Thai Development will step aside as the developer of the Dawei Special Economic Zone, a Myanmar government official told The Myanmar Times last week.
Thura U Thaung Lwin, chairman of the Dawei project’s management committee, said on June 5, the first day of the World Economic Forum in Nay Pyi Taw, that Ital-Thai did not have enough money to develop the huge site.
“Italian-Thai has agreed to step aside from this project,” he said. “The project requires a huge investment. … [But] Ital-Thai will bid for work within the project when we call tenders for investment at Dawei.”
Myanmar and Thai government officials will discuss the Dawei project in a high-level meeting to be held in the third week of June in Bangkok, which will also be attended by Japanese investors and government officials.
“Japan will participate in the meeting,” Thura U Thaung Lwin said. “We are going to discuss in detail the process of tenders for the Dawei project. We have agreed with Italian-Thai for it to be compensated for the money it has invested,” said Thura U Thaung Lwin, who was recently elected as co-secretary of Myanmar Investment Commission.
He added that some components of the SEZ would be shifted to avoid relocating villages but details of these changes to the project will be decided during the June discussions.
Japan stated its interest in the Dawei project during the three-day visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in late May.
President U Thein Sein said Japan would be an investor in Dawei during a meeting in Nay Pyi Taw on May 30 concerning special economic zones.
Ital-Thai and Myanmar Port Authority signed a framework agreement for the Dawei project in 2010. The ambitious project was to cover 250 square kilometres, with the first phase projected to cost nearly US$9 billion. Ital-Thai was granted a 60-year concession for the project, which was due to incorporate a deep-sea port and huge industrial estate.
However, the project was quickly beset by problems, notably the refusal by Myanmar’s government in January 2012 for a 4000-megawatt coal-fired plant to generate electricity for the site.
The Myanmar and Thai governments then signed an agreement in 2012 to bring the project forward amid delays from Ital-Thai, which was unable to secure investors and funding.
President U Thein Sein and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have met multiple times to discuss the project.
