YANGON, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar and Thailand have opened the second friendship bridge that crosses Thaungyin River to boost their border trade, according to the Ministry of Construction on Thursday.
The Myanmar-Thai Friendship Bridge-2, built with the help of Thailand, links Myawady in Myanmar's southeastern Kayin state with Mae Sot in Thailand's Tak province.
The bridge is 760 meters long and 17.2 meters wide with two traffic lanes and border control facilities and traffic change-over.
The inaugural ceremony was held at a temporary pandal erected on the bridge on Wednesday where Myanmar Minister of Construction U Han Zaw emphasized the bilateral relations of the two neighboring countries, cooperation in trade and investment, tourism and labor sectors.
According to statistics of the Commerce Ministry, bilateral border trade between Myanmar and Thailand reached over 2.28 billion U.S. dollars as of May 3 in the present fiscal year 2018-19 which ended in September.
Myanmar conducts border trade with neighboring Thailand mainly through seven checkpoints -- Tachileik, Myawady, Kawthoung, Myeik, Hteekhee, Mawtaung and Mae Sot.
Myanmar exports agricultural and fishery products to Thailand, and imports cosmetics, food products, machinery and raw industrial goods such as cement and fertilizers from Thailand.
