STATE BUILDING, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND CHINESE ENERGY PROJECTS IN MYANMAR

This study presents two large scale infrastructure projects in the energy sector currently in their preliminary construction phase in Myanmar; the Myitsone Hydropower Dam project on the Ayeyarwady River in Kachin state and the Oil and Gas Pipelines project that will cross the Myanmar territory from the Gulf of Bengal to the Sino-Myanmar border. These two projects are funded and carried out by Chinese State owned companies and they are the result of official negotiations and agreements between Myanmar and China, whose diplomatic, military and economic relations have developed tremendously over the last 20 years. These two projects epitomize the mutual benefits that cooperation in the infrastructure sector bring about for the two States involved; energy security for China and economic State building projects for the Myanmar regime. These projects also illustrate the social and environmental risks faced to local Myanmar populations. [Free download: http://www.irasec.com/component/irasec/?task=publication_detail&publicationid=312]