A new port in Sittwe that is part of the US$500 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will be opened on May 9.
Sittwe Port, funded by India, is part of the $500 million Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project.
A new port in Sittwe that is part of the US$500 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will be opened on May 9.
The India-funded port, which is considered important for trade between the two countries, will be inaugurated with a ceremony, said U Aung Aung, chairman of the Rakhine State Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“It is true that the Indian-funded Sittwe Port is set to open on May 9 with the inaugural run of a ship from Netaji Subhas Dock in Syama Prasad Mookerj Port, Kolkata, on May 4,” he added.
U Aung Aung said the Indian Consulate in Sittwe, in collaboration with the Rakhine State Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, will invite entrepreneurs from Arakan State for the port’s opening day ceremony.
Merchants in Arakan State believe that the new Sittwe Port will be able to accommodate large ships of 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes that can conduct direct trade with India.
“Since there has been no international port in Arakan State, we could only do [overland] border trade. In the current situation, we hope to be able to do sea trade,” U Aung Aung added.
Businessmen said the port has the potential to transform aspects of the Arakan State economy for the better.
“If we look at the economic and trade environment of Arakan State and the plans that can be implemented in a systematic way, we can create manufacturing, trade and employment, and we see that there is potential to create income for the Arakanese people and the grassroots,” said veteran Arakanese businessman U Khin Maung Gyi.
Myanmar and India signed a bilateral agreement in 2008 to connect the port and inland water transport terminals in Sittwe and Paletwa to the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, also linking Sittwe to the port city of Kolkata in “mainland” India.
The Kaladan multi-modal project, which is being funded by India, will include two major land and sea routes: the waterway from Sittwe to Paletwa and a road link from Paletwa to Mizoram.
