Troubled copper mine back on track(2)

Pupils from villages near the Monywa Copper Mining Project accept books donated by Wanbao Mining. The Chinese company has promised to inject $1 million annually to build libraries, kindergartens and other infrastructure to benefit the local community. PHOTOS BY ZHANG WEI/CHINA DAILY

Greater engagement

The Letpadaung mine is part of the company's Monywa copper mine project in Sagaing Division, northwestern Myanmar, which Wanbao took over from Ivanhoe, a Canadian company, in 2010. Wanbao had invested about $500 million in the project by October.

Because his company has a Chinese background, it usually finds itself under fire, Geng said.

His observation was supported by Win Myo Thu, who said there was a group of people in Myanmar who wanted to turn public anger into anti-China sentiment.

The protests against the Letpadaung copper mine were also fanned by some of the local media, and the mine was not the only Chinese-backed project in Myanmar to be targeted in this way. In 2011, the construction of a proposed $3.6 billion dam by a Chinese company was postponed because the project, it was claimed, was contrary to the will of the people.

Chinese companies should do a political analysis and risk assessment before starting a project, and should be aware of the complexities of Myanmar's ongoing democratic transition, Win Myo Thu said.

Myanmar and China should also work together and establish a platform to exchange information and identify public concerns, he suggested.

"It is very important not only to improve the image at project level, but to improve China's image with citizens by engaging with everybody," he said.

Wanbao is interacting more actively with the local media and NGOs, and it is also using social media such as Facebook to help keep people informed of the latest developments.

The company established a new community and social development department and promised to inject $1 million into it every year. The department will build libraries, kindergartens and other infrastructure. A 10-member medical team was created in May 2012 to provide medical services to 28 neighboring villages.

'Resource curse'

A country with abundant mineral resources should be considered blessed, insiders said. But the promise of Myanmar's rich mineral resources has been overshadowed by concerns about so-called "resource curse", they said.

As energy security becomes increasingly important in Asia, Myanmar is well positioned to help supply the region's energy needs, especially the region's three leading economies, China, India and Thailand, said Soe Myint, a retired official from Myanmar Ministry of Energy.

"But an immediate challenge facing Myanmar is how to balance its resource-based development because the country must manage its natural resources to fuel its economy through exports while catering for its own development needs," he wrote in an article in The Myanmar Times.

Several other countries' projects are also under fire, according to Win Myo Thu. A large coal-fired power station in southern Myanmar, built by a Thai company and a Japanese company that claims to be using clean coal technology in Myanmar, have all faced environmentalists' skepticism.

Oil and gas account for the majority of foreign investments in the resource-rich nation.

And despite the rapid inflow of Western capital, China remains Myanmar's largest investor, accounting for 33.8 percent of all foreign investment in the country.

Talking with China Daily in April during his visit to China, Myanmar President U Thein Sein said his government welcomes Chinese companies investing in Myanmar, especially if it can creates jobs. "Myanmar has improved its laws and regulations to legally protect the interests of investors."

After the commission's report into the Letpadaung copper mine was released, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the Chinese government will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to carry out cooperation with Myanmar to achieve mutual benefits.

There is still great potential and ample space for China to deepen its economic cooperation with Myanmar in all fields, according to Li Chenyang, director of the Myanmar research center at Yunnan University.

"We need to peacefully coexist, otherwise nobody can benefit," Win Myo Thu said. Establishing more people-to-people exchanges to promote mutual understanding and alter people's misconceptions is very important, he said.