The 48th Rakhine State Day orgnaised by the military regime was recently celebrated in Sittwe. Amongst the other announcements made by the Military Council-appointed Rakhine State government CM, Dr. Aung Kyaw Minduring, was the opening of the Sittwe Port for facilitating direct trade between India and Myanmar. This project was started as a part of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, commonly abbreviated as KMTT, in 2009, soon after signing the MoU in 2008. This is one of the Indo-Mynamar friendship projects initiated by the government to strengthen the trade between the two countries. This $484 million project aims to connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with the Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State and Chin State, Myanmar by sea.
As per a source close to the Indian embassy the new Sittwe port that is to be opened soon would be handling around 5,000-6,000-ton vessels. Also, road transport would be used to travel to Zorinpui in India which is 109 km from Paletwa port for mobility. This project would not only help boost trade but also help strengthen Myanmar’s economy significantly.
