7. Dawei Deep Sea Port -
The Dawei project is being implemented by the Italian-Thai Development Company. It would include a 250 sq. km area with three major components: Deep Sea Port, Industrial Estate (Heavy, Medium and Light Industries), and cross-border road, rail and pipeline links. The total project investment cost of infrastructure and supporting facilities is estimated to be US$ 8.6 billion, and the required investment from potential industrial investors in the industrial estate is estimated to exceed US$ 50 billion (MPA, 2010).
In regard to the geographic review, the proposed project area is supposed to become an Asian regional hub linking to China and Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. It is at the end of the Southern Economic Corridor of the Greater Mekong Subregion, and a gateway to the Indian Ocean.
The construction for the Dawei project is scheduled to be completed by 2018. The project has three phases of five years each. The first phase of infrastructure construction started in 2011. However, the project has been progressing slowly due to limitation of financial resources, which remains a contentious issue as noted elsewhere.