New roads and bridges have been constructed in the Ayeyarwady Division to lessen the dependency on waterways transportation.

Railways

All major urban centres are connected by rail. The distances between some major connections by rail are as follows:

Airways

There are 59 domestic air fields in the country of which four are International Airports, namely Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Nyaung-Oo and Heho.

Domestic air transport is served exclusively by Myanma Airways, a public enterprise.

With regard to international air service," Myanma Airways International " has flights to neighbouring countries, such as Thailand, Hongkong, Singapore and Malaysia at present. In addition, it is due to start two more - Yangon-Dhaka and Yangon-Kunming-soon. Several international airlines such as Thai Airways International, Silk Air, China Airlines, Biman, Aeroflot and Nepal Airlines have air services via Yangon while others such as KLM, Air France and Northwest Orient Airlines have branch offices in Yangon.

For information regarding air rates and fares, enquiries can be made at the following addresses:

Inland Waterways

Myanmar has a large inland water transport network.

Shipping

The main international port in the country is Yangon which handles over 90 per cent of the sea-borne trade of the country. Although the mainstay of the cargo carried is break-bulk conventional cargo, container traffic is also catered for.

Myanma Five Star Line (M F S L) is the State-owned shipping line which operates coastal and overseas transport services with a fleet of twenty one vessels.

Coastal Service:

Overseas Services:

Apart from the above liner services, it also operates services to east and west coasts of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and People's Republic of China subject to availability of cargo. Moreover, M F S L also operates tramping service as and when it is necessary. Although its main cargo carried is break-bulk conventional cargo, container traffic is catered for in the Far East liner service between Yangon and Japan. South Korea where twenty feet containers and reefer containers are carried. A container service is also available in the Yangon - Singapore service.

Although there is no direct service to U S A and Canada, a transhipment agreement has been entered into with Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line ( N Y K) Japan, under which M F S L serves the Myanmar / Japan sector and N Y K serves the Japan / U S A and Canada sector. A similar transhipment arrangement has been made with Australian National Line (ANL), whereby ANL serves the Australia/Singapore sector and M F S L serves the Myanmar / Singapore sector. Apart from M F S L, there are also other foreign shipping lines entering Myanmar Ports, of which Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line, Eastern Car Liner Ltd.(Japan), Bangkok Container Line Co., Ltd.(Bangkok), Lian Huat Shipping and Foong Sun Shipping (Pte) Ltd. (Singapore) are the five regular shipping lines at present.

Most of the countries of the world can be connected via the above eight gateways. International Direct Dialling (I D D) system for overseas calls from Myanmar is available. In order to be compatible with the Myanmar Telecommunication Network, the following specifications are required for telecommunica- tion equipment to be imported.

Specifications

1. Telex Machine  
   CCITT International Alphabet No. 2
   Transmission Speed : Telex operation 50 bauds
2. Facsimile Machine      
   Compatibility : CCITT Group 2 or Group 3 
3. Transceiver System

(Synthesizer controlled transceivers can be imported but must be used only with those frequencies assigned by the Posts and Telecommunications Department)

Domestic production and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products is under- taken by the State-owned Enterprise. The main petroleum products available at the prices indicated against them below are:

The National Grid System covers the southern and central parts of Myanmar and electricity generation within the National Grid System is about 95 per cent of the total generation. The main source of hydroelectricity in the National Grid System is Baluchaung No. 2 (Lawpita) Power Station in Kayah State. For regions outside the National Grid System area, electricity is generated mostly by diesel and mini- hydroelectric power stations. Altogether 315 towns and 927 villages are electrified.

The favourable geographic and hydrological conditions in Myanmar, provide it with abundant potential of hydropower resources. The explored hydropower potential is approximately 24,737 MW of which only about one per cent has been harnessed so far.

Electricity is supplied to consumers with 3 phase 400v/single phase 230v, 50 Hz AC.

The prevailing tariff rates are as follows:

In the Union of Myanmar, according to the existing laws, land is solely owned by the State. Foreign economic enterprises and individuals may lease land for their business, subject to the Transfer of Immovable Property Registration Law, 1987, to lease of land to foreign economic enterprises and individuals.

There is a guideline with respect to lease of land for foreign investment. The rates varies depending of a type of land use and its location.

The land may be leased up to 30 years, and may be extended upon negotiation. The rates are subject to review after every 5 years from the date of the lease. For high-rise buildings, annual land lease rates shall be based on the floor area.

Right to cultivate/utilise cultivable, fallow and waste land for agricultural, livestock breeding, aquaculture and other affiliated economic enterprises can be applied.