Reuters
June 25, 2002

Chinese firms may take part in the construction of a dam on the Salween (Nu) River across the border in Burma.

(excerpt)

Bangkok: Thailand and Myanmar will sign a joint venture pact this week to build a 1,200 megawatt hydropower scheme along their border, the first of five dams planned along Myanmar’s Salween River, Thailand said on Tuesday. Thai state power producer EGAT PCL said it would sign a memorandum of understanding with its Myanmar counterpart in Yangon on Friday to build the Hutgyi Dam in Myanmar’s Karen State and near the northern Thai town of Mae Sot. It would take five to six years to build the dam and EGAT was talking to Thai and foreign firms, including Chinese, to take part in the construction, EGAT chief executive Kraisi Karnasuta told reporters. He did not disclose the cost of the project, but said it would be cheaper if the Chinese agreed to invest as they could shift machinery used in building a dam in China near the Myanmar border.