- 11-22-2011, 11:49 AM
NUSA DUA, Indonesia--Japan's pledge to provide 2 trillion yen ($26.1 billion) in infrastructure construction support to ASEAN is intended to pave the way for a "southern corridor" that would connect southern Vietnam with Myanmar (Burma).
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's promise to provide funding will be a boon for Japanese companies seeking to move into India.
The proposed link would improve distribution networks between India and Japan with the construction of roads and ports.
Of the 33 major infrastructure projects that Japan will help fund, six are closely related to the southern corridor.
The idea is to link Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam with Phnom Penh in Cambodia and Bangkok in Thailand, and end up at the Dawei Seaport in Myanmar, which faces the Indian Ocean.
If maritime routes can be established to link Japan with Ho Chi Minh City and Dawei with India, ships headed to and from Japan would not have to go out of their way to pass through the Malacca Straits, a major maritime transport base that is rife with piracy.
New routes would heighten safety and decrease the time and cost of shipping.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is taking a leading role in infrastructure export policy, is aggressively seeking ways for Japanese manufacturers to set up bases in India, a vast market with high annual growth."
If a parts supply chain could be established between Japan and India through the southern corridor, Japanese parts manufacturers would reap huge benefits," said a high-ranking ministry official.
A major point for the corridor's construction will be the development of the economic special zone at Dawei in Myanmar, which currently has no overland routes to Thailand.
Economy minister Yukio Edano met Nov. 18 with Tin Naing Thein, Myanmar's minister of national planning and economic development, to discuss the development of Dawei. According to ministry officials, both agreed that the project was of high importance.
At the ASEAN summit meeting, Noda said, "We will work together on studies for the development of economic special zones in line with requests from Myanmar."
Japan pushing 'southern corridor' linking Vietnam and Myanmar - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
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