New Delhi will invest US $ 130 million to develop Myanmars Sittwe port that will give Indias landlocked northeast access to a new trade route to South East Asia.

India has been keen to develop closer links with Myanmar because of its huge reserves of gas and proximity to South East Asia. The port will allow cargo vessels from Indias landlocked northeastern Mizoram state to navigate the Kaladan River to Sittwe, which sits on the edge of the Bay of Bengal.

The aim is to obtain an alternate transit route for products from Indias northeast to South East Asian markets, as Bangladesh has not yet allowed India transit facilities. New Delhi has repeatedly asked Bangladesh for an overland route but many rounds of talks between the two neighbours have yielded no results.

Vietnam to invest in Myanmars SEZ

Vietnam will invest in Myanmars new emerging special economic zone with hightech industries. The two countries will also strive to raise their bilateral trade volume to 100 million US dollars in the next fiscal year of 200708 beginning April. And trade fairs will be held alternately and extensively in the two countries major cities to boost bilateral trade.

Myanmar and Vietnam had an annual bilateral trade volume of about 60 million dollars in the last few years.