A third “gigantic engine for economic development” is about to start up. Work on the 1000-acre Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State will be launched in a few months, a member of a committee set up to award contracts at the zone announced on September 8 at Yangon’s Inya Lake Hotel.
“We have three gigantic engines for economic development in Myanmar. They are the special economic zones at Dawei, Thilawa and now Kyaukpyu. Kyaukpyu is a very strategic location, a 30-metre deep-sea port with great potential,” said Bid Evaluation and Awarding Committee (BEAC) deputy chair U Maung Maung Thein, who is also deputy finance minister.
He said the US$8 billion new zone will be developed through opening tenders to international firms rather than by the government-to-government approach used at the other SEZs.
BEAC has given local and international companies until November 19 to submit Expression of Interest (EOI) letters for the conduct of a feasibility study for the SEZ. The winning bidder will be announced on November 27.
“Kyaukpyu is strategically located between India and China, the two most populous countries in the world. It has great potential for future economic development, and faces no competition in the region,” said U Myint Thein, head of the Kyaukpyu
SEZ Management Committee and a deputy railways minister.
“We are going to focus on an environmentally friendly SEZ, starting with light industries to employ local people,” he added.
The BEAC was formed on August 17 with a membership consisting of deputy union ministers, high-ranking ministry officials and other experts.
The Kyaukpyu SEZ will be run by a management committee, while there will also be an advisory board of technicians and consultants and a monitoring committee comprising residents and environmentalists, said U Myint Thein.
A total of $277 million is needed for investment in the first phase of Kyaukpyu for the period 2014-2016, said U Aung Kyaw Than, joint secretary of the bid committee.
Source : mmtimes.com