BANGKOK: Thailand and Myanmar leaders have agreed to form a joint committee to supervise the construction of the Dawei deep-sea port in Myanmar, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in her meeting with Myanmar President Thein Sein on Wednesday, discussed the Thai-Myanmar cooperation on the development of the Dawei deep seaport and other development projects in Myanmar. The meeting was held during her trip to attend the 67th United Nations General Assembly in New York, from September 23-29. Yingluck told TNA that after the bilateral discussion that she and her Myanmar counterpart had agreed on the structure of the Thai-Myanmar joint committee to drive the development of the Dawei deep seaport, with each country working out details and setting meeting schedules of the joint panel. She said Thailand will host the first meeting of the Thai-Myanmar joint committee and will also invite the Myanmar Cabinet to attend it, as both countries plan to announce their cooperation in the project at the 2012 Asean Summit in November. Yingluck said that Thailand is also interested in forming joint working groups for other development projects in Myanmar, particularly the latter's economic zones as the Thai private sector is interested in investing in the Thilawa Industrial Zone in Yangon, which has seen joint ventures with companies from Japan. The Thai premier also extended an official gratitude for Myanmar's recent release of 83 Thai nationals who had been arrested for illegal immigration and forest encroachment in Myanmar's border areas, opposite Thailand's southern Ranong province in July.
