Myanmar : Second Greater Mekong Subregion Highway Modernization Project

Transport / Road transport (non-urban)

The GMS corridors are the backbone of Myanmar's transport system. The EWEC connects Da Nang with Yangon and its special economic zone of Thilawa, and then onwards to Pathein. The Thailand, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Viet Nam sections of the corridor have been completed to international standards, with border facilities improved. Improvements to this EWEC corridor will reduce national transport costs and improve regional connectivity with Thailand, and onwards to the rest of the GMS region. However, most of the corridors in Myanmar, including EWEC, has only two lanes, with pavement condition ranging from poor to fair. Road safety is a serious sector issue with Myanmar's road crash fatality rate being among the highest in Southeast Asia region. The alignments are long and cross urban areas, and the low design standards with mixed road users (motorized and non-motorized vehicles, pedestrians, and animals) make it unsafe for speeds higher than 60 km per hour.

The project will address capacity issues of the road between Bago-Kyaikto along the EWEC, where the current two-lane road experiences high traffic. A pre-feasibility study prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) showed that this section would reach capacity between 2020 and 2025. Upgrading the currently existing road is not the preferred solution, as its widening would involve large resettlement impacts, and because the alignment of the road is long and winding in several areas. The project proposes the construction of a new Bago-Kyaikto expressway with 4-lanes, shorter by 32 km than the current alignment, which will halve travel time. This expressway will be about 64 km long and include a 2.3 km long new bridge across the Sittaung river.

An arterial highway network established in support of economic development, regional economic growth, and international industrial competitiveness in a way that is safe, environmentally-friendly and efficient.

More efficient and safer movement of goods and people between Bago and Kyaikto along the Greater Mekong Subregion East-West Economic Corridor

New Bago-Kyaikto expressway constructed

Capacity of Ministry of Construction for expressway management enhanced

Road safety of Bago-Kyaikto corridor improved

All consultants under the advance contracting will be recruited according to ADB's Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and the Procurement Regulations for ADB Borrowers (2017, as amended from time to time).

An estimated 1,236 person-months (486 internationals, 750 nationals) of consulting services are required for CSIS consulting services.

All procurement of goods, works, non-consulting and consulting services will be undertaken in accordance with ADB Procurement Policy Goods, Works, Non-consulting and Consulting Services (2017, as amended from time to time) and Procurement Regulations for ADB Borrowers Goods, Works, Non-consulting and Consulting Services (2017, as amended from time to time).

Open competitive bidding (OCB) procedures with international advertisement will be used for the procurement of civil works and consulting services. Strategic procurement planning was carried out to identify procurement risks, develop mitigating measures, review procurement options and agree on fit-for-purpose procurement arrangements. The procurement risk is rated high since DOH does not have much capability and will depend on international consultants for the preparation of detailed design, procurement and project implementation support. The capacity development in procurement will be provided by the consultant through day-to-day assistance and trainings. In parallel, ADB will strengthen DOH's capacity in safeguards, procurement and contract management. Value for money will be achieved by (i) selecting the CSIS consultant through advance action, under quality and cost based method with 90% weight assigned to quality; and (ii) procuring civil works package through OCB with international advertising to ensure better competition, where one civil works contract is split into 5 lots taking into account engineering considerations, size and complexity of road sections, and where bidders are permitted to bid for a single lot or combination of lots based on their technical capacity and availability of financial resources.