Kyauk Phyu and Qilin are planned to be friendship city

An agreement was signed on 24 July to build a friendship city between Kyauk Phyu of Rakhine State and Qilin of China’s Qilin State.

Kyauk Phyu is the second largest city of Rakhine State in Myanmar, where China's important oil & gas  investment projects are located. On the other hand, Qilin is the capital city of the industrially booming Qilin State of China.

The purpose of building a city of friendship is to promote China-Myanmar diplomatic relations in accordance with the founding principles of the two countries' friendship and cooperation.

It is written in the Chinese-Burmese bilingual contract of agreements that both sides intend to build Qilin city and Kyauk Phyu city as a city of friendship.

The agreement also mentioned that on the basis of mutual equality and benefit, the people of two countries will jointly promote and actively cooperate in various fields of friendship, trade & commerce, science & technology, culture, sports, education, human resources and other fields.

A group led by Mr Hubin, secretary of Qilin city committee of the Communist Party of China, and another group led by U Nyein Chan Maung, chairman of Kyauk Phyu District local Ethnic Development Association (KDNEDA) attended and endorsed the agreement.

The signing ceremony was organized at the China-Myanmar economic cooperation and development promotion association conference hall in Yangon at 4 pm on Monday.

Hubin, also the mayor of Qilin, added that Kyauk Phyu is located in China's modern silk road (under One Belt, One Road initiative) and hence many opportunities are expected to be gained through development activities.

“Seven main types of industries have flourished in Qilin, including iron smelting, chemical manufacturing, construction, manufacturing of modern appliances, agriculture, tourism, etc,” he added.

Kyauk Phyu will be able to cooperate in all these industries very soon. KDNEDA president Nyein Maung also said that both the cities have now become eternal friends and will work more meaningfully.

"Experts have opined that if a strong development initiative is taken engaging China, India and Middle Eastern countries, it would be an economic focal point. Moreover, the construction of a special economic zone in Kyauk Phyu region, which has many advantages in terms of geographical position, may pull up 80 percent of Myanmar's GDP,” he added.

The signed contract will be valid for five years and after that with the consent of both parties, it will be extended.

Kyauk Phyu hosts China's projects like the special economic zone and the deep sea port. Both the projects were initiated in 2015.

In December 2022 , a group of companies under the leadership of China International Trust Investment Corporation (CITIC) won the tender to build a deep seaport and special economic zone.

Kyauk Phyu deep sea port will be built with a 2,500-meter wide and 600-meter long in Maday island and a 1,500-meter wide and 600-meter long in Rambree island.

The port will be able to deal with large cargo ships like Mother Vessels, Carriers, Supertankers (above1,000 feet) etc.

Kyauk Phyu’s Shwe natural gas and produced from the Rakhine coastal oil blocks are exported to China. Moreover, shipped from other countries, the oil is transported to Kunming through the pipeline.

However, local residents are worried over China's economic projects which may lead to loss of existing livelihoods and will not change the employment opportunities of them.

Due to the deep-sea port construction, local fishermen expressed apprehension that it would destroy the natural ecosystem along the Kyauk Phyu coastal area and local fishermen's blocks to create problems in their survival strategies.