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BANGKOK - Thailand and Myanmar on Sunday opened a new "friendship bridge" across the Sai River that divides the two neighbours, which Thailand hopes will boost trade with its neighbour and with nearby China.
Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkol and his Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win presided over the opening ceremony at the bridge, linking Thailand's northern province of Chiang Rai with the town of Tachilek in Myanmar.
"We expect closer relationships with Myanmar not only in trade but also in transportation and tourism," Thai foreign ministry spokesman Apichart Phetcharatana told AFP.
The new 90-metre (295-foot), two-lane bridge also gives Thailand an improved road link to China. The Chinese-Myanmar border is only about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the bridge.
An earlier bridge across the Sai River opened in 1967, but it could not be expanded to accommodate increased traffic between the two countries.
Construction of the new bridge was completed last month, the ministry said.
Thai exports at that border crossing totalled 2.67 billion baht (67.7 million dollars) last year, while imports were about 260 million baht, the ministry said.
Thailand is the biggest buyer of Myanmar's exports, according to the Asian Development Bank, although much of the trade along Myanmar's border happens in the black market, which experts say could rival the size of the actual economy.
The bridge opens as Southeast Asian nations are putting increased pressure on the military-ruled state to make good on promises of democratic reforms.
The United States and the European Union have slapped sanctions on Myanmar over its dismal human rights record and the detention of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
But many Asian nations have been increasing their economic ties in a scramble for the country's vast natural resources. - AFP/ir
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