Myanmar is to receive a €5 million loan from Germany’s KfW Development Bank for upgrades to the Ywa Htaung diesel locomotive shed, where trains are kept when not in use.
Parliament passed a motion last week to approve the loan, which will also be spent on upgrading a training centre for repair workers.
“We need to give training to the employees of the Ywa Htaung locomotive shed because the technology of the current engines of the Myanma Railways is getting more advanced,” U Kyaw Myo, Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications told parliament last Monday.
The loan will ultimately result in more reliable trains and service, improved safety and advanced training for Myanmar’s engine repair workers, he added.
The Ywa Htaung Locomotive Shed was built in 1975 and the attached railways technical training centre was opened in 1981 with the assistance of the German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
Under the industrial training program, students from Myanmar’s technical universities receive on-the-job training at the centre every year.
The loan will have a ten year grace period and then must be paid back over 30 years at an interest rate of 0.75 percent per year.
According to the minister, experts will also be hired to monitor the use of the funds to “minimise loss and wastage”.
Source: Myanmar Business Today