Myanmar government will retain its control over the Dawei deep seaport project that is being co-developed with Thailand, according to the chairman of project implementation committee.
Aye Myint, Labour, Employment and Social Security Minister, speaking at a press conference on Saturday, tried hard to clear a growing public concern about the fate of the company running the project that was recently registered in Thailand.
“The project will not be controlled by Thailand as the others say. Special Purpose Vehicle-1 was registered in Thailand to be able to get international loans and to sell shares as a public company in Thailand’s capital market,” said Aye Myint, the former indusrial minister.
“Like Special Purpose Vehicle-1 that is regarded as the Dawei economic zone development company, Special Purpose Vehicle-2 will be formed by Myanmar and Thailand. It will be registered in Myanmar to sell shares locally,” he added.
Dawei Deep Seaport and Special Economic Zone Project was first initiated by the Italian-Thai Company in 2008. Following the Italian-Thai’s difficulty in financing the project implementation, Myanmar and Thai governments formed a joint venture named Special Purpose Vehicle-1 to overcome the bottleneck.
“The Italian-Thai has not withdrawn from the Dawei project but it will no longer have complete control over the project as before even if the company would make reinvestments,” said Set Aung, chairperson of rules and regulation sub-committee for Dawei project and the deputy minister for national planning and economic development.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and Thailand’s Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency are discussing the required agreements between Myanmar and Thai shareholders and the association policies. The two countries are also making discussions with Japan inviting its partnership for the Dawei project.
