No Gas for Bangladesh Right Now: Myanmar

Sources: Energy Bangla

If Bangladesh wants to import gas from Myanmar in future, it will need to compete with other countries.

Mayanmar’s energy minister Lun Thi informed M Tamim, the chief adviser’s special assistant, of the matter at a meeting in Tamim’s office.

Lun Thi said Myanmar’s existing gas reserve near Bangladesh had already been sold out to Thailand and China.

This has dealt a blow to Bangladesh’s plan to meet its growing demand for gas with import from the neighbour.

The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on the day expressed his keen interest in importing gas from Myanmar for fertiliser production for re-export as the vice-chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council, vice-senior general Maung Aye made a goodwill call on him at Bangabhaban.

The head of the army-controlled interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, on Tuesday requested Myanmar to sell gas to Bangladesh through pipeline while he had official talks with Maung Aye.

Referring to his meeting with the Myanmar energy minister, Tamim said, ‘He [Lun Thi] informed us that Myanmar does not have enough gas now for supply to Bangladesh as it has made agreements with China and Thailand for gas supply from the exiting reserve.’

The minister, however, said they were expecting to discover gas in two blocks near Bangladesh by 2008 and Bangladesh could secure gas from that reserve in competition with other countries.

Regarding the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India gas pipeline project, which has now been stalled, the Myanmar energy minister said the possibility of such a pipeline was not on board as they had already sold out the gas, which was supposed to be supplied to India, to China after the talks with the countries failed.

Tamim said Lun Thi had assured him that Yangon would not conduct gas exploratory work in the disputed maritime boundary area until the issue was settled.

The minister responded positively to Dhaka’s proposal for the installation of a hydropower plant in the Rakhain state in Myanmar to bring electricity to Bangladesh, said Tamim.

Tamim told reporters Lun Thi would talk with the Myanmar’s electric power ministry so that a Bangladesh delegation could visit the country for an initial study.

Myanmar earlier proposed that Bangladesh should install the plant on its own investment and give Myanmar 30 per cent of the power from the plant and take the remaining 70 per cent for its use.

Iajuddin, meanwhile, expressed his satisfaction with the existing excellent relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

He said this as Maung Aye made a goodwill call on him at Bangabhaban. Iajuddin and Maung Aye assured each other of ‘all-out cooperation’ to mutual benefits.

On the second day of his three-day visit to Bangladesh, Maung Aye began his day by paying tribute to the martyrs of the war of independence at the National Martyrs’ Memorial at Savar.

He placed flowers, planted a sapling and wrote a note on the visitors’ book at the place.

Maung Aye then made a courtesy call on the army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, in the army headquarters. Maung Aye was apprised of different activities of the Bangladesh army.

The army chief, principal staff officers of the army headquarters and the entourage of the Myanmar general attended.

Maung Aye later visited the Military Institute of Science and Technology in the Mirpur cantonment. He signed the visitor’s book.

The visiting Myanmar construction minister major general Saw Tun on Wednesday discussed with the communications adviser, Ghulam Quader, the Bangladesh proposal for a survey on the proposed direct road link between the two neighbours.

‘The Myanmar construction minister showed a positive attitude to the Bangladesh-Myanmar link road project. We have placed our proposal for a survey on the proposed 25om road with 23 kilometres spanning the Myanmar territory,’ Quader said after the meeting.

A six-member delegation of Myanmar accompanying Maung Aye, visited Beximco Pharma at Tongi in the morning.

The delegation, led by Myanmar’s national planning and economic development minister U Soe Tha and commerce minister Grig Gen Tin Naing Thein, visited the production area of the factory.