5 April

Good transportation and sufficient power supply are key for attracting foreign and local investment. Roads and infrastructure are important for connecting all our ethnic people and for developing our economy.

Transportation and electricity issues are among the six main problems in our country.

We are striving to provide electricity to the whole country.We are targeting to electrify more than 50 per cent of households before the end of this year.

We hope to reach 100 percent electrification in 3 to 4 years, and we are working towards that end. To achieve that target, we need funds and expertise.

Also, our energy potential is yet to be utilized fully. Notwithstanding our natural gas and renewable energy resources, Myanmar remains one of the world’s least electrified countries.

Myanmar relies heavily on hydropower. The Union Government is currently working to diversify into other natural resources found abundantly in the country.

Compared to 30 years ago, the demand for electricity has increased twofold, and is expected to double yet again by 2025. This poses a great challenge for the country.

To overcome the challenge, we need money, advanced technology, and expertise.

Meanwhile, the power sector is also facing losses. The electricity production sector reported losses to the tune of K322 billion in the 2016-2017 financial year alone, according to documents published by the Ministry of Electricity and Energy.

The ministry was expecting a loss of over K360 billion in the 2016-2017 FY, but the figure rose to over K422 billion. The MOEE is trying to reduce production costs for electricity as the sector reported a loss of over K600 billion in the 2017-2018 financial year.

The government is trying to expand hydropower plants as they have proven to be more profitable due to lower cost of production. Today, people are using more electricity in their homes, and factories are exceeding their quotas, leading to overloading, and causing difficulties to people. We need to upgrade power sub-stations and transformers to cope with overloading.

We would like to encourage people to think about others who do not yet have access to electricity and consider saving as much energy as possible so it does not go to waste.

GNLM