• Burmese
Saturday, May 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Ashburn
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Ahead of Elections, Thilawa Pitched as Jobs Booster

Simon Roughneen by Simon Roughneen
November 26, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Ahead of Elections

The Thilawa port is located less than 20 miles southeast of Rangoon. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

11.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Officials hope that the soon-to-start “Special Economic Zone” at Thilawa near Burma’s commercial capital Rangoon will underpin a jobs boom in time for the country’s 2015 elections.

Building work at the 6,000-acre Thilawa SEZ will begin soon, according to Set Aung, deputy governor of Burma’s Central Bank. Set Aung told The Irrawaddy that “we hope that construction will be finished by 2015 and that commercial operations at Thilawa will have commenced by then.”

If so, there could be jobs for voters in time for the 2015 elections, which will likely take place in late 2015 and will see the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) face-off against the now-unshackled National League for Democracy (NLD), the party led by former dissident Aung San Suu Kyi.

RelatedPosts

Social Media and Street Protests: Myanmar’s Pushback Against Chinese Influence

Social Media and Street Protests: Myanmar’s Pushback Against Chinese Influence

April 17, 2025
1.5k
Examining the Role of Private Security Firms in Chinese Force Projection

Examining the Role of Private Security Firms in Chinese Force Projection

April 3, 2025
1.6k
Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip

Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip

March 7, 2025
9.5k

Win Aung, president of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), predicts that the first phase of the Thilawa SEZ will see garment, furniture and car manufacturing factories established—bringing tens of thousands of new jobs for some of Burma’s estimated 37 percent unemployed.

“These will be part of the first of three phases of development at Thilawa,” he told a group of Japanese business representatives in Rangoon last week.

Job creation, say officials, is now a key aspect of the government’s economic policy, after decades of military rule that saw labor-light and often exploitative investment in Burma’s natural resources, such as oil and gas, while job-heavy sectors such as garment-making were hobbled by Western sanctions.

Khin San Yee, deputy minister of national planning and economic development, said that Burma “is focusing on the promotion of labor-intensive investment and industry.”

With jobs said to be the key first-up economic priority for the government, a longer-term industrial development plan is being nailed down, it seems, following on from the government’s publication of a Framework for Economic and Social Reforms (FESR), a long-term policy document, in early 2013.

“After that we will focus on value-added industries and, looking forward to 2030, more heavy industry and hi-tech,” the deputy minister said.

But given Thilawa’s proximity to Rangoon, where around 10 percent of Burma’s population lives, investments in heavy industry are unlikely to get the go-ahead. “Due to the nature and location of the project, so close to Yangon [Rangoon], we are not expecting petrochemicals or heavy industry there,” Set Aung told The Irrawaddy.

Foreign investment into Burma increased from US$1.9 billion in 2011-12 to $2.7 billion in 2012-13, according to the World Bank, which predicts economic growth of 6.8 percent for the current fiscal year ending March 2014.

But building on that momentum will not be easy, officials acknowledge, citing Burma’s poor infrastructure, high costs and low education standards. Thilawa will have its own 50-megawatt power plant, insulating businesses that set up in the SEZ from Burma’s wider electricity shortages. “Thilawa will also benefit from planned upgrades to the existing power plant system in Yangon,” said Set Aung.

Burma has typically been listed near the bottom of most world graft indices, and officials acknowledge that this will have to change if Burma’s economy is to prosper. “We cannot shy away from the problems we have,” said Aung Tun Thet, an advisor to President Thein Sein. “Corruption is a major issue for us,” he conceded.

Another inhibiting factor, said Serge Pun, head of Yoma Strategic Holdings, Burma’s only listed company, is exorbitant, speculation-driven land prices, which deter potential factory builders and in turn mean that there are less jobs available than might otherwise be the case.

“Thilawa intends to solve that problem by providing affordable land to serious investors,” said Pun, who predicted that “this will in turn provide job opportunities.”

The Thilawa SEZ, one of Burma’s three proposed economic zones, has run into controversy, however, with allegations of land grabs and insufficient compensation by farmers in the area. “We have relocated 80 households to a place near the project area,” said Set Aung.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Investment
Simon Roughneen

Simon Roughneen

Contributor

Similar Picks:

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption
Burma

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

by The Irrawaddy
September 14, 2023
28.6k

The arrest of ‘kickback king’ Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun, once seen as a possible successor to Min Aung Hlaing, comes...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes
Business

Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes

by The Irrawaddy
June 4, 2024
27.6k

Monday’s arrests follow reports that Myanmar has become one of Thailand’s most lucrative markets for selling condos since the 2021...

Read moreDetails
Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip
Business

Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip

by Hein Htoo Zan
March 7, 2025
9.5k

Regime-linked businessmen are set to cash in on deals flowing from the 10 agreements signed between Russia and the Myanmar...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar’s Youth Flee—and They Aren’t Looking Back
Commentary

Myanmar’s Youth Flee—and They Aren’t Looking Back

by Aung Zaw
February 23, 2024
8.3k

In Thailand and farther afield, they join the wealthy and the educated who have already put down roots and invested...

Read moreDetails
Tracking the Business Empire of Myanmar Regime Stalwart Moe Aung and His Siblings
Investigation

Tracking the Business Empire of Myanmar Regime Stalwart Moe Aung and His Siblings

by Aung Thit
September 4, 2023
7k

In the second of a two-part series, The Irrawaddy’s Investigation Desk examines more of the vast business interests of the children of...

Read moreDetails
With Proposed Security Gambit, Beijing Decides ‘Enough Is Enough’ in Myanmar
Analysis

With Proposed Security Gambit, Beijing Decides ‘Enough Is Enough’ in Myanmar

by The Irrawaddy
November 21, 2024
4.9k

China’s establishment of a joint venture security company with the junta to safeguard BRI projects in Myanmar shows it no...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Consumer Advocates Test Creamer

Consumer Advocates Test Creamer, Coffee Powders in Burma

International Water Painting Exhibition Held in Rangoon

International Water Painting Exhibition Held in Rangoon

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

5 days ago
1.1k
How Myanmar Junta Uses Air Force to Fight Its Corner

How Myanmar Junta Uses Air Force to Fight Its Corner

4 days ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Ousted Myanmar Envoy to UK Charged With Trespass in London Residence Row

    Ousted Myanmar Envoy to UK Charged With Trespass in London Residence Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Three Japanese Firms Ditch Myanmar Port Project

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Workers at Adidas Factory in Myanmar Strike for Living Wage

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Abandons Chinese Pipeline Amid Resistance Attacks

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Leader Scores Diplomatic Win With Xi Meeting in Moscow

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.