The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million loan to improve a 66.4 kilometre section of road connecting the towns of Eindu and Kawkareik in Kayin state, the missing link of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) East-West Corridor, ADB said in a statement on 12 November.

“Kayin has been affected by sectarian conflict for decades resulting in weak infrastructure and high levels of poverty. But it also has the principal road link to Thailand along which 25% of the country’s land-based trade passes,” said James Leather, Principal Transport Specialist in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department. “Upgrading this stretch of the road will complete improvements to the Myanmar sections of the GMS East West-Corridor. This will open up new economic opportunities for the state and country and support inclusive growth.”