Saturday, August 16, 2003
China to lend Myanmar $200 million for hydel project
Associated Press Yangon, August 16
China will lend Myanmar's military government $200 million for its biggest hydroelectric power project, an official newspaper reported on Saturday.
Officials from the two neighbouring countries signed the loan agreement on Friday in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, the Myanmar Ahlin daily said.
The money will be used to purchase equipment for the 790-megawatt Ye-Ywa hydroelectric power project in central Myanmar, 50 kilometres southeast of Mandalay city. Construction on the project began last year.
The loan will be issued in foreign currencies other than US dollars, the newspaper said, without elaborating. Myanmar currently faces US sanctions banning dollar payments to the country because of its poor human rights record.
Separately, a Chinese company, Yunnan Machinery and Equipment Import and Export corporation, signed an agreement last week to build a $150 million, 400-megawatt hydroelectric power station in Myanmar's north-eastern Shan State.
Myanmar is suffering an energy crisis due to rising demand and a shortage of foreign exchange reserves needed to buy fuel for electrical generators.
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