Int'l bank group provides loan for Myanmar industrial port development

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided 40 million U.S. dollars' long-term loan to boost development of Myanmar Industrial Port(MIP), according to an announcement of IFC Tuesday which is a member of the World Bank Group.

The loan is the first phase of a 200 million U.S. dollars' long-term senior loan financed by IFC. This financing will support the port to complete the first phase of its expansion plans to improve the terminal's annual handling capacity to 500,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) or more.

MIP is one of two major container ports in Myanmar. The state-owned port operated by local company, Myanmar Annwa Swan A Shin Group, can handle more than 300,000 TEUs which is 40 percent of the country's container traffic annually.

Hyun-Chan Cho, IFC's Head of Infrastructure and Natural Resources for Asia, said that IFC's financing for MIP comes at a critical time in Myanmar's development when transport infrastructure is urgently needed to realize the country's growth potential.

This financing is the first investment by IFC in Myanmar's transportation sector. As part of broader strategy to help Myanmar do business more effectively, boosting transportation sector has been listed in the latest report of Asian Development Bank.

Myanmar's container volumes are estimated to have increased by 90 percent over the last three years due to rapid growth in imports and exports following the government's implementation of political and economic reforms, according to IFC. Endit