16 June
Japan has agreed to support Myanmar a ¥ 6.033 billion (US$ 53 million) grant to help modernize Mandalay Port and improvements are expected to begin in July, said Mandalay Regional Minister for Planning and Finance U Myat Thu.
The upgrades for the port will be carried out by the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems under the Ministry of Transport and Communications with financial and technical assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the guidance of the Union government. “The JICA submitted a proposal to the regional government to lease land plots to construct warehouses for development of the port. The chief minister also pledged to lease land plots to be used in port improvement,” the regional minister said.
Under the project, a 300-meter road with three weighbridges, a container yard, jetty, cranes and warehouses will be developed. The project site is located on the Mandalay-Sagaing circular road between Mahaaungmyay and Amarapura Townships. In addition, it is one of the major goals under the National Transport Master Plan drafted with the help of JICA in 2014. On 3 October 2018, the JICA signed a grant agreement with the Myanmar government in Yangon, to provide grant aid of up to 6.033 billion yen for the Project for the Development of Mandalay Port.
The objective of the project is to modernize Mandalay Port in Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, which is located in the economic center of the northern region of Myanmar. This will be done through the construction of berthing facilities and a terminal and the mechanization of cargo handling facilities. The project is expected to greatly improve the efficiency of inland transportation and goods distribution by water in Myanmar by making it possible to mechanize 200,000 tons of cargo-handling per year out of 800,000 tons, as well as increasing the cargo-handling efficiency per hour by approximately six times, shortening the ship mooring time by 90 percent or more and in other ways.—Reference: JICA Myanmar
By Kyaw Htike Soe
