Japan will sign a tripartite agreement in July to jointly develop the Dawei special economic zone in Myanmar, an official said yesterday.
Hiroto Izumi, the Japanese prime minister's adviser on economic affairs, left, pays a courtesy call on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. They discussed economic cooperation, including two railway development projects. Government House
Hiroto Izumi, special adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, confirmed Japan's willingness to commit to the project during a meeting with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House yesterday, government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said.
The special adviser was quoted as saying Japan was ready to invest in the Dawei SEZ Development Co through the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
The largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, the US$50 billion Dawei project will include a deep-sea port with the capacity to hold 250 million tonnes of cargo, an economic zone that will cover more than 200 square kilometres, with factories, its own coal mine and power plant for electricity, and golf courses and five-star hotels for visiting executives.
The German Press Agency reported last week the signing of the primary Dawei development agreement between the Thai and Myanmar governments and real-estate developer Italian-Thai Development Co has been delayed a third time, until early June.
The governments and the developer postponed the signing of the pact that would kick-start construction of the Dawei deep-sea port reportedly due to administrative slowdowns in Nay Pyi Taw, Pravee Kamolkancha, Italian-Thai's marketing manager, told dpa.
The signing agreement was earlier delayed in March and then again in April.
Mr Izumi told Gen Prayut that Japan attached special importance to its plan to build a high-speed rail line from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. He also said his government would send Japanese farm product traders to sample Thai food and fruit in Thailand.