A total of 45 companies from 11 countries have outlined their investment proposals for Thilawa Special Economic Zone, a major industrial complex located on the outskirts of Yangon.
“These companies already sent us letters of confirmation to invest in Thilawa SEZ. They are from various countries. One is a US company. Others are from Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan. The only one from the US is a beverage firm. From Europe, there is a Swedish company. Most firms are from Japan and Hong Kong. We can approve their investment plans since all are well-known companies,” said Sett Aung, deputy minister for national planning and economic development.
Thilawa SEZ covers an area of more than 2,342 hectares in Thanlyin Township. The first phase of development will use 396 hectares. The zone will showcase manufacturing plants for high-tech, textile, and labour intensive industries.
“Construction permits for Thilawa factories will be granted this month. The permits have been designed to prevent the land purchase for speculation without any plans for development. Such problem happened in the past for other industrial zones. Therefore, land buyers need to submit investment proposals. The planned production should not be harmful to the environment. Nor it should consume to much water and electricity,” said Win Aung, chairperson of Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings.
The development of the industrial complex is to being carried out by Myanmar-Japan Thilawa Development Company with equity stakes split 51 per cent for Myanmar and 49 percent for Japan.
On Myanmar side, Thilawa SEZ Management Committee and the Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings own 10 percent and 41 percent. Japan’s MMS Thilawa Development and Japan International Cooperation Agency hold 39 percent and 10 percent respectively.
Source: Eleven Weekly Media
