ASEAN-China Expo rekindles hopes for hydropower project

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ASEAN-China Expo rekindles hopes for hydropower project

(Xinhua) 08:15, September 05, 2013

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BEIJING, Sept 4. (Xinhua) -- Talks of resuming the Myitsone hydropower project have grown louder as leaders of China and Myanmar have urged greater cooperation on the sidelines of the 10th ASEAN-China Expo.

Utun Naing Aung, chairman of the Energy and Environmental Group of the Myanmar Industries Association, said that if the joint venture project were put off until 2015, the development of Myanmar's power industry would be delayed for five years.

"To achieve the target of tripling Myanmar's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, boosting energy development is necessary," said Utun.

Jin Honggen, an economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, said that the Myitsone hydropower station is a win-win project for both sides.

"China has been hoping to restart it," Jin said.

While meeting Myanmar President U Thein Sein on Tuesday in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang suggested that both countries should enhance political mutual trust, discuss new thoughts and paths to deepen cooperation and bring greater benefits to local people.

U Thein Sein said that his country is willing to boost strategic communication and expand cooperation so as to promote development of bilateral ties and ASEAN-China relations.

Advocates for early resumption of the Myitsone hydropower station said that the high-profile exchange has rekindled their hopes, calling on both sides to establish an inter-governmental mechanism to facilitate resumption of the project as early as possible.

"Misunderstanding has led to the suspension," said Guo Gengliang, deputy general manager of the Upstream Ayeyawady Confluence Basin Hydropower Co. Ltd., a Sino-Myanmar joint venture to manage hydropower resource development in Myanmar.

Work on the Myitsone hydropower station, the largest of seven hydropower stations to be built under the Sino-Myanmar Framework Agreement on Joint Development of Hydropower Resources in Myanmar signed in March 2003, was suspended abruptly on Sept. 30, 2011 by the Myanmar government under the excuse of public will.

With an installed capacity of six million kilowatts, the project costs 3.6 billion U.S. dollars and is scheduled to begin generating electricity in 2017.