Belt and Road begging bowl
Amid a post-coup power crisis that has worsened over the past three years, junta Electricity Minister Nyan Tun attended the 3rd Belt and Road Energy Ministerial Conference in Qingdao in China’s Shandong Province on October 23-24, seeking investment for the country’s electricity sector.
Speaking at the conference, the junta minister invited fellow members of the Belt and Road Energy Partnership to invest in Myanmar, saying that the country “is striving to become a Green Myanmar with its great potential for renewable energy production and by employing green growth models in many new projects.”
Backed by its key arms suppliers China and Russia, the regime has been attempting to produce wind power to supply the national grid, but to no avail.
It is implementing wind power projects in Thandwe, Ann and Gwa townships in Rakhine State in partnership with China. However, Thandwe has now fallen into the hands of the Arakan Army, which is also fighting for control of Ann.
In Kachin State, the regime is working to resume the China-backed Myitsone hydropower project. However, the project is threatened by ongoing clashes between the regime and the Kachin Independence Army. The fighting is also likely to disrupt cross-border power line projects with China and Laos.
Myanmar is targeting universal electricity access by 2030, the minister told the Qingdao conference. However, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has previously admitted that his regime is struggling to meet even half of domestic electricity demand.
The regime recently increased power bills, meaning people are spending more on electricity while enjoying fewer hours of supply per day.
Holidays in a civil war
Junta deputy hotels and tourism minister Phyo Zaw Soe has invited Russian holidaymakers to choose Myanmar, handing them visa exemption for another year.
The deputy minister met tour operators and agencies from Russia on Oct. 25 in Yangon. Also present at the meet were representatives of tourism associations in Myanmar, the central bank, local insurance companies, airlines, and hotels and tourism companies.
The regime on Oct. 15 launched new domestic flight routes linking Yangon with major tourist destinations like Pathein, Nyaung-U and Mandalay so that travelers can visit attractions in a short time, said the deputy minister. The list includes almost all the places still safe to travel. Fighting has knocked travel hotspots across the country – including in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, Karen, Chin and Karenni states – off the tourism map.
In September, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing told ministries and tourism agencies “to boost tourism services and disseminate true information about safe travel to destinations in Myanmar to travelers.”
While the United States, Britain and other European countries have warned their citizens against visiting Myanmar due to armed conflicts engulfing the country, Min Aung Hlaing said he expected to receive more visitors this year.
The junta boss has traveled so far from reality that he can no longer distinguish truth from fantasy.
Spooks summoned for one last mission to Beijing
Ahead of Min Aung Hlaing’s trip to China, a number of former military intelligence men visited Beijing on behalf of a shadowy ‘think tank’. Read more
China seeks more military cooperation
Amid the junta’s aerial bombing of towns near the border, the two sides discussed increased military cooperation. Read more
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