The Myanmar section of a Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline, a project funded by companies from China, Myanmar, South Korea and India, was inaugurated in Mandalay yesterday as it began to deliver gas to China.

Myanmar Vice President U Nyan Tun, China ' s Ambassador to Myanmar Yang Houlan and a South Korean representative started the gas flowing at around 4:12pm local time.

The pipeline is part of the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline project, which includes building a crude oil pipeline. Starting from Myanmar ' s Kuaykphyu, it passes through Rakhine state, Magway and Mandalay regions and Shan state and enters Chinese territory at Ruili in southwest Yunnan Province.

The gas pipeline stretches for 793 kilometers onshore within Myanmar ' s territory with six processing stations, while the crude oil pipeline, which is nearing completion, starts from Made Island and extends onshore for 771 kilometers.

Raising living standards

The gas pipeline has a designed annual throughput of 12 billion cubic meters before off-loading in Myanmar. The transmission capacity of the crude oil pipeline on the Myanmar side is designed at 22 million tons per year with a 300,000-ton crude oil wharf being added.

After the completion and commissioning of the whole project, 2 million tons of crude oil and 20 percent of the designed throughput of gas will be off-loaded in Myanmar, helping to promote Myanmar ' s economic development and raising people ' s living standards.

Two joint ventures ? South-East Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Co Ltd and South-East Asia Gas Pipeline Co Ltd ? were established with investment from all parties to operate, respectively, the two pipelines.

China National Petroleum Corp is involved in both ventures.

The Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline project is said to have provided jobs for more than 6,000 local people and more than 220 Myanmar enterprises are involved.

US$20m donations

There have also been socio-economic development aid projects undertaken along the Myanmar-China gas pipeline project areas. So far, US$20 million have been donated for use in education, medical treatment, health and disaster relief.

In addition, 45 schools and 24 clinics have been built to improve the teaching facilities for 19,000 students and medical facilities for 800,000 local people in Myanmar.

The joint ventures also offered US$10 million to repair the high voltage power grid line in Kyaukphyu, of which US$3 million was donated by China National Petroleum.

In the second half of 2012, after sectarian riots in Rakhine state, the joint ventures extended US$50,000 of aid in cash and 10 tons of rice. They also donated US$50,000 to quake-hit victims in central Myanmar.

Observers say the project is a multi-national and mutually beneficial energy project which also carries the goodwill of the peoples of China and Myanmar, and it is bound to promote regional economic development while deepening the China-Myanmar friendship.