THE prime ministers of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia agreed at a summit in Bagan last November on a comprehensive Economic Cooperation Strategy initiated by the Bangkok government to assist development in its neighbours.The objectives of the ‘Ayeyarwaddy, Chao Phraya, Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy’ include reducing trade barriers, improving transport links and upgrading major border checkpoints. The strategy also provides for a bilateral sister cities program, in which economic cooperation is promoted between towns on either side of national borders.Myanmar Times business editor Moe Zaw Myint and photographer Lwin Maung Maung recently spent two weeks in Thailand.In the first of a two-part series, Moe Zaw Myint explores the potential for development in Phayathonezu in Myanmar’s Kayin State and Three Pagoda Pass on the Thai side of the border.

THE opening of permanent border checkpoint at Phayathonezu-Three Pagoda Pass and building better transport links from the border to towns in Myanmar would help to promote economic development in the area, residents told Myanmar Times.

“If the border opens permanently, trade between the two countries will increase enormously and will help to develop the border region,” said Mr Vira Wuthisuwan, who has diversified business interests in Sanghkla Buri, about 10 miles from the border.

The two towns are divided by a fence, said Mr Vira of Phayathonezu-Three Pagoda Pass, the least developed of the four checkpoints between Myanmar and Thailand.

“The trade flow through the checkpoint is irregular,” said Mr Vira, who is a member of the Thai-Myanmar Economic and Cultural Cooperation Association, established in 2001 by senior government officials of the two countries to promote cooperation in the economic, social and cultural sectors.

Mr Vira has been selling Japan-made second-hand cars and construction materials to Myanmar for a few years.

But he planned to expand his business activities if a permanent checkpoint opened at the border.

“I’m planning to set up a company which will export palm oil, construction materials, consumer products and cars to Myanmar and import agricultural products, wooden furniture and timber such as teak and padauk,” said Mr Vira.

Another Thai trader said a permanent border checkpoint would help to save on transport costs.

“Many products from Thailand are shipped to Myanmar via the Strait of Malacca, a journey that takes 14 days,” he said.

“If a permanent border checkpoint is established and the road between Phayathonezu and Kya Inn Seik Kyi is upgraded, the transportation time will take only half a day, meaning big savings in costs,” the trader said. Kya Inn Seik Kyi is about halfway between the border and Mawlamyine.

The trader said opening the checkpoint would also enable Myanmar to ship its goods to Asia-Pacific markets through Thailand’s Laem Chabang port instead of Singapore, reducing delivery times by at least eight days.

The shortest route between Yangon and Bangkok is via the Phayathonezu-Three Pagoda Pass border crossing. Phayathonezu is about 300 miles from Yangon and about 200 miles from Bangkok.

Mr Thongchai Chotiggrai, who has been trading with Myanmar through Phayathonezu for about seven years, said there was excellent potential to establish labour-intensive and agro-industries on the Myanmar side of the border.

“There is ample land and Myanmar is rich in natural and human resources,” Mr Thongchai said.

Many Myanmar in the area are also hoping for increased Thai investment.

They include U Win Swan and his wife, who live in Sangkhla Buri and work on a farm.

“Thai investment will create many job opportunities and once that happens I will go home,’ said U Win Swan, who has a 12-month permit to work in Thailand.

U Aung Win Than, who owns a bus that plies the half-hour trip between Chaung Sone and the border, said road upgrades would enable the trip to Mawlamyine to be made in four hours.

The trip, which involves road and river travel, takes one day from the border to Mawlamyine and two days in the reverse direction.

One of the challenges to upgrading the Phayathoneuz-Mawlamyine road is that it crosses about 20 streams and would require heavy investment in bridges.

Another challenge are the taxes levied on people and goods travelling between Mawlamyine and Phayathonezu by local authorities and cease-fire groups.

Apart from trade, the other main economic activity in Phayathonezu is making furniture and other wooden products, such as souvenirs, for export to Thailand.

U Min Aung, the president of the Furniture Association in Phayathonezu, says that while the industry is crucial for the town’s survival it is suffering from higher timber prices, an over-reliance on the Thai market and the deferred payment system preferred by traders in Thailand.

U Min Aung says the town needs to develop other export-oriented industries.

Daw Than Yee, head of Myanmar Agricultural Service office in Phayathonezu, says an emphasis on developing food and industrial crops, such as rubber, for export would assist in the long-term development of the area.

“Most people here are doing short-term businesses with quick returns but they should consider the long-term,” Daw Than Yee said. “Only a few farmers in the area are growing crops such as rubber, cashews, betel nut, pomelos, pepper and durian,” she said.

Road upgrades on the Myanmar side of the border would help to attract more Thai investment, agreed Mr Worawit Macnopparat, who heads the Thai Commerce Ministry’s office in Kanchanaburi, about 140 miles from Three Pagoda Pass.

“Many Thai traders and investors are very interested in doing business with Myanmar if the road has been upgraded, and many Thai investors will go to Myanmar,” said Mr Worawit.