JICA and Myanmar government sign agreement for Yangon-Mandalay Railway project

Thursday, April 2, 2020

On Tuesday, March 31^st 2020, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and the Myanmar government signed an agreement. The agreement covers the ¥40·6 billion third tranche of an official development assistance loan. The loan has been issued to finance Phase 1 of the Yangon-Mandalay Railway Improvement Project. It would also contribute to economic and social development through improvements to the railway system and electricity supply.

Phase 1 of the project aims is to improve the capacity of the route. The 260 km section of the north-south mainline between Yangon and Toungoo would now be rehabilitated and modernised.

The work would also include construction or rehabilitation of civil engineering structures including tracks, bridges, and a depot, signaling and telecom improvements, electrical works, and procurement of rolling stock.

The project is being managed by Myanmar Railways and the Ministry of Transport & Communications. Contracts have already been awarded. The civil works is expected to be completed by December 2023.

It was back during September 2014, that Japan agreed to issue the first tranche ODA loan worth ¥20 billion. Around the year 2017, the ¥25 billion second tranche was also granted.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency invested a total of ¥47.94 billion in total. While the ¥40.6 billion will be used for the first phase of the Yangon-Mandalay Railway Improvement Project, the remaining ¥7.33 billion will be used for the third phase of infrastructure development in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone.

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