When the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline Project started ground construction in 2011, it coincided with the beginnings of political and economic reforms in Myanmar. Two years later, in mid-2013, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the operator of the Project, completed the pipeline construction – as the people of Myanmar excitedly witnessed the country’s ongoing reform process. During this critical time in Myanmar, the Project constructed nearly 800 kilometres of oil and gas dual pipelines, which run from the west to the north-east of Myanmar before entering the territory of China. Although the Project’s progress was monitored as regards to political and human rights issues in the pre-construction and construction stages…very little research has been done on the post-construction social and environmental impact. Recognising this knowledge gap, the Myanmar-China Pipeline Watch Committee (MCPWC), the only civil society organization in Myanmar dedicated to monitoring the Project, launched a research project to understand the post-construction social impact on the affected population living along the pipeline. [I]t has published the comprehensive social research document…entitled: “Myanmar-China Oil and Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Project: Assessing Transparency and Accountability with regards to the Social Impact of the Affected Local Population” [that] describes in detail how a large-scale foreign direct investment project in the country’s oil and gas sector generated environmental destruction and had a major social impact on the life and livelihood of Myanmar’s farmers.

This research strongly recommends that the Project should pay special attention to initiating a livelihood development program for the farmers who are directly affected, particularly those who had small plots of farmlands and who suffered greatly from the impact of the Project.