Inland Transportation :-
Myanmar's transport sector is considerably under-developed for a country of its size, population, and potential. In 2011, Myanmar’s number of vehicles per 1000 people was about 38. In comparison, Thailand’s ratio was 432 and Lao PDR’s was 171. The number of vehicles in Myanmar has more than doubled from 960,000 in 2004 to 2,354,000 in 2015, and the strong growth trajectory is expected to be maintained as the economy continues to expand.
Myanmar has 151,298km of which 39,076 km is paved road. The country’s internal road network is presently insufficient to service a country of 676,578 sq km .
Vehicle registration has more than tripled in a decade and daily travel in Yangon has slow down by two to three times.
New types of public transport are being introduced with the new Yangon Bus Service launched in February 2016 .
There are five main overland crossings with Thailand, and one each other with China and India.
Road transport dominates long-distance travel, with 90% of freight transport and 86% of passenger transport.
Myanmar needs to increase its road network from 157,000km to about 260,000km just to connect all the villages.
Rail :-
Myanmar Railway (MR) is the state-owned agency that operates the railway network in Myanmar.
Myanmar has the longest network of rail lines among the ASEAN countries with 412 locomotives, 960 stations, 1375 passenger coaches and 3384 wagons .
Aging equipment and infrastructure caused repeated delays and derailment and the Myanmar government is eager to improve its rail network .
Over the past few years, rail transport authorities have been actively reaching out to both domestic and international players to bid for rail-related projects .
There are two big development projects for a railway funded through Japan ODA loan:
- Yangon- Mandalay Railway Improvement Project (2017 to 2023) valued to USD 249 million.
- Yangon 47km Circular Railway Line Upgrading Project (2025 to 2022) valued to USD 2078 million
Ports :-
Myanmar has a long coastline with growth in volumes of imports and exports providing connections with other ports. Yangon Port momentarily handles 85% of Myanmar’s import and export.
Myanmar’s ports have the potential to become regional transportation hubs serving markets in China, India and Indo-China region due to the possibility to save shipping time via over-land transport through Myanmar.
Excluding Yangon, Myanmar has nine costal ports. To meet future demand, the Myanmar government has proposed privatising berths previously held by the Myanmar Port Authority (MPA). The development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) such as Thilawa and Dawei in Myanmar will also see concessions being awarded to the private sector for berths and jetties (including fuel storage facilities) and in so doing increase port capacity across its coastline.
River Freight transport consists of commodity items for the Agriculture sector. There is demand for both bulk cargo and liquid cargo ports to handle the import of petroleum products for inbound distribution.
Although passenger services have been on the decline, there are still 13-15 million passengers who use river transport.
Airports :-
Myanmar currently has a total of 69 airports, of which only 32 are operational. There are 3 international airports - in Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw, with 19 international airlines and 4 domestic airlines operating regular flight services between Myanmar and 17 regional destinations. In 2011, there were 1.5 million international passengers and 1.4 million domestic passengers.
Energy & Power :-
Myanmar has abundant energy resources, including renewable alternatives such as hydro, biomass, wind and solar. The country’s primary energy supply includes coal, oil, gas, hydropower and biomass. Hydropower is the main source of fuel in the country and electricity from hydropower plants contribute nearly 70% of the total electricity generated in the country, followed by 22% produced from natural gas and 8% from coal. Over the last 10 years, electricity consumption in Myanmar has almost doubled from 3,303 GWh to 6,093 GWh.
Telecommunication :-
Myanmar’s telecommunications sector is significantly underserved, with exceptionally low penetration rates given the size and potential of the market. Although the mobile subscriber base has grown fivefold in the last four years, official statistics report that there are 5.4 million subscribers as at December 2012, or a penetration rate of just 9% of population. Fixed-line subscriber numbers have been growing erratically, with an overall penetration of around 1% of the population or 0.6 million subscribers. Internet user penetration is even lower, at less than 1% of the population or 0.5 million subscribers. Yangon and Mandalay account for majority of the mobile and fixed-line subscribers.