by Piyaporn Hawiset
6 April 2002
The foreign ministers of Burma, Thailand and India concluded a historic summit, agreeing to establish closer economic ties and construct a major highway connecting the three countries. They all stressed the value the scheme would have - not only for their countries, but for Asia as a whole. Burma's foreign minister said it was the beginning of a new era of co-operation. The two-day meeting in Rangoon had been planned for some time, but it had been delayed to fit in with the Indian minister's tight schedule and domestic problems.
High on symbolism
The rapport between the three foreign ministers was obvious from the start. They joked together, and clearly had developed a warm personal relationship. And, after two days of meetings, that was probably the most important result of this historic summit. It was high on symbolism to cover the fact that there were no real concrete results.
The three countries agreed in principle to develop a very ambitious road network, linking northern Thailand with India's north-east through Burma. These roads would also give Thailand and India access to an important deep sea port on Burma's coast.
All three countries hope that this would increase bilateral aid, and give producers in the new regional grouping access to the markets in Europe to the west from Burma, and the US in the east through the highway which links Thailand, through Laos and Cambodia, to Vietnam's deep sea port of Danang.
Finance snags
The Burmese foreign minister Win Aung said he hoped the project would be completed by the end of 2004. The biggest problem though remained unresolved - how to finance it.
The three countries want to set up a consortium that would then seek institutional funding from international financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. They hoped to attract private investment as well.
None of the participants in the summit were prepared to estimate how much money would needed, but regional economists believed the total plan would have to be a multi-billion dollar scheme. They remained highly sceptical that the funds would in fact be found to complete the project.
Unless the three governments involved were to come up with most of the finance, the idea of a new pan-Asia highway would likely to remain a pipedream for some time to come.