China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) released a China-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines corporate social responsibility report in Yangon, Myanmar recently.
Construction of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline has taken advantage of excellent global industry resources, resulting in a high-standard, high-quality, and first-class energy conduit. In accordance with the Equator Principles commonly recognized by the industry as well as with the World Bank Guidelines, the project involved environmental impact assessments, leading to the pipelines avoiding eco-sensitive regions and cultural heritage protection areas. The project utilized advanced technologies to minimize impacts to vegetation during the construction process. In terms of operational safety, the project took advantage of huge management and technical resources to ensure safe and sustainable operation of the pipelines.
The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline not only diversifies and grows Myanmar’s oil and gas imports and export industry, but has also pushed the development of clean urbanization schemes in Myanmar. It will provide more employment opportunities for people along the pipeline route, and high-end specialists will be trained from local communities, said Wang Zhigang, Secretary of the Board and Directors at the CNPC General Office.
Yang Shouzheng, political counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, said that the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline is a good example of cooperation between the two countries, as well as an important part of the Bet and Road Initiative. He believes that a growing number of China-Myanmar cooperativeion projects will bring greater benefits to both sides.
U Sein Win Aung, president of the Myanmar-China Friendship Association, said in a speech that the project has created toll road charges, transit fees, taxes and other direct economic benefits, as well as a large number of employment opportunities.
By the end of 2016, according to the report, local employees accounted for 72 percent of the pipeline project staff. Some outstanding Myanmar employees have already been assigned to important technical positions. A total of 226 local companies participated in the project’s construction, and local procurement expenditures accounted for about one-fourth of the total investment for Phase I of the project.
The report shows that from the start of the project to late March 2017, CNPC and its partners invested more than 23 million US dollars into 178 related social and economic assistance projects. These support education, road transport, power supply, health care, drinking water, communications and other public infrastructure initiatives along the pipeline routes. The project has improved school facilities for nearly 20,000 Myanmar students and has brought more convenient and reliable medical services to nearly 800,000 local people. Now many villages enjoy 24-hour power supplies and access to safe and clean drinking water.
The project has been jointly invested by the CNPC, Myanmar National Oil and Gas Company, South Korea POSCO Daewoo Corporation and other partners. It is the largest foreign investment project since Myanmar’s economic reforms began. On July 28, 2013, the China-Myanmar natural gas pipeline officially began to transmit natural gas to China. On May 19, 2017, crude oil entering China via the China-Myanmar oil pipeline—under the supervision of China Customs—arrived at Ruili Port, marking comprehensive operations for the twin oil and gas pipelines. (CRI)