Road Map to Myanmar’s Growth

Challenge

Myanmar is strengthening its economic policies to take advantage of the social and economic growth potential of an open market economy. The transport sector has a key role in fostering this economic growth. Especially, infrastructure development will be strongly needed to capitalize on regional trade opportunities.

Policy reforms are important to realizing this growth potential, but success will also require the coordinated and sustained upgrading of the country’s transport infrastructure, facilities, and skilled human resources.

To support domestic reforms in the transport sector, Myanmar looked forward to 2015, when the ASEAN Community was economically integrated. Myanmar has been eager to seize upon the growth opportunities provided by integration. The scale of growth in the region and the increase of foreign investment possibilities and infrastructure financing are helping in this regard.

Myanmar’s strategic location in the ASEAN region through its proximity to Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, and Thailand, leaves no doubt that Myanmar will play an important role in generating significant levels of regional GDP in the future. However, the possibilities for such growth mean that development of the country’s transport sector should be an infrastructure priority that will require investment in international airports, deep sea ports, inland waterways, strategic rail and highway networks, along with improvements in cross-border infrastructure and regional connectivity.

Against this backdrop, the Myanmar National Transport Master Plan (MYT-Plan) was formulated to show key steps toward improved transport systems, providing policy guidance for Myanmar to capitalize on new opportunities and emerging trends in the transport sector until the year 2030.

The OC Global consulting team managed all the processes in formulating the MYT-Plan and some feasibility studies on projects justified in the plan. MYT-Plan consists of analysis, findings, and identification of issues on transport planning; recommendations for the national transport system; and physical and institutional action plans by sector.

As part of the MYT-Plan project, two feasibility studies and one pre-feasibility study were carried out, all of which were selected through discussions with the Joint Coordination Committee. These were:

• Feasibility Study on the Rehabilitation and Modernization of Yangon–Mandalay Railway
• Feasibility Study on Inland Water Transport Facilities Improvement and Development Project
• Pre-Feasibility Study for the East-West Economic Corridor Relevant Roads Project

Intensive technical workshops and seminars were held in this project to disseminate the MYT-Plan and to improve understanding/ skills of day-to-day implementation work under the MYT-Plan.