land of Mawlamyine. It would provide a wide range of services to the operators of oil and gas fields in the waters off the coast in the Bay of Bengal. Transport hub Mawlamyine is the western terminus and an important part of the East-West Economic Corridor. The 1450-kilometre east–west economic corridor links the South China Sea at Da Nang to Mawlamyine through Laos and Thailand. By using the East-West Economic Corridor, the travel time between Bangkok and Yangon is just three days, compared with the two to three weeks needed for conventional marine transportation via the Straits of Malacca. Japan's Nippon Express started land transportation services between Thailand and Myanmar in 2016. Flora Culture Mawlamyine provides a multicultural dimension despite a Buddhist Mon majority. Buddhist cultural dominance is as old as Mawlamyine, but the British annexation and American missionaries in the early 19th century introduced Christianity. Many of the relics of the British Raj remain along with Hindu temples, Chinese temples, mosques and even a slice of Americana, reflecting Mawlamyine's great diversity. The First Baptist Church in Mawlamyine was constructed in 1827 by the legendary Adoniram Judson, the first Caucasian Protestant missionary sent from North America to Myanmar. The building is a masterful blend of Western and local elements, with the materials and building technology speaking directly to Mon cultural traditions and crafts expertise. In 2015, the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar announced that it gave an award of $125,000 to World Monuments Fund (WMF) to restore the historic First Baptist Church in Mawlamyine through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. The Mon State Cultural Museum exhibits the ancient cultural relics of Mon people and divans used by a Konbaung princess who resided in Mawlamyine. Education Mawlamyine has 13 public high schools, two institutes, a college and three universities. The University of Mawlamyine, established in 1953, is the major university for the south eastern region and offers both bachelor's and master's degree programs in liberal arts and sciences. It is the third oldest Arts and Science university in the country after the University of Yangon (est. 1878) and the University of Mandalay (est. 1925). It is one of the few universities in Myanmar that offers a degree in Marine Science. Its Marine Science Laboratory in Setse, a coastal town about 83 km south of Mawlamyine, was the first of its kind in Myanmar. Technological University (Mawlamyine) offers technological and engineering courses.