Japan Helps Keep Myanmar On Track with Railways Servicing Equipment

Japan has provided railway equipment to Myanmar to help maintain its dilapidated railway system.
Japan International Transport Institute (JITI) has provided equipment worth 5.24 million yen ($55,000) to the state-run Myanmar Railways, it was reported last week.
Japanese companies have taken a key role in projects in Myanmar as it emerges from five decades of military rule, particularly in the field of infrastructure.
The Japanese government has proposed 11 projects for railway services to be implemented.
These include a 265 kilometre railroad between Yangon and Toungoo, which is the first phase of a Yangon-Mandalay, with a 172-kilometre Toungoo-Yamethin section as the second phase, and a 177-kilometre Yemethin-Mandalay section as the third.
The east Japan Railways Company has vowed to help promote the development of Myanmar railway management and transport by sharing technical knowledge with Myanmar.
Earlier this year, Japan announced that it would be providing Myanmar with a loan of over 51 billion ($497 million), of which about a third is to be used for construction and renovation of infrastructure, another third for the development of infrastructure at Thilawa Economic Zone, and the rest for upgrading power grid projects and power stations in and around Yangon.