International University to Be Built in Naypyitaw

By Moe Moe 20 April 2018

NAYPYITAW — Naypyitaw’s municipal administration has announced plans for an international university to be built in the capital’s diplomatic zone in Dekkhinathiri Township.

The Naypyitaw Development Committee (NPTDC) is awaiting project approval and land allocation in the diplomatic zone by the Foreign Ministry and the President’s Office, committee member U Min Thu told The Irrawaddy.

South Korea will fund and provide technical assistance for construction of the university, which is expected to take less than two years, U Min Thu said. The university is expected to open its doors in 2020.

A delegation representing the university’s founding committee led by Sung Ki Baik visited NPTDC officials in early March to discuss the project.

The institution will provide instruction in a wide variety of vocational subjects tailored to the needs of the region and local people, U Min Thu said. The name of the university has yet to be decided, he said.

“The university is part of the initiative to make Naypyitaw a smart city,” U Thant Zin Tun, a lawmaker representing Dekkhinathiri Township in the Lower House, told The Irrawaddy.

Over 1,500 acres of land were earmarked as a diplomatic zone when the administrative capital was established more than a decade ago. The NPTDC has proposed building a university on 300 acres in the zone, U Min Thu said.

“This is very good for the future of local children. We should welcome it as it will unlock not only educational opportunities but also business and job opportunities in the town,” U Nanda Kyaw of Zayar Real Estate Agent told The Irrawaddy.

Naypyitaw comprises eight townships covering 2,724.75 square miles with a population of over 1 million people, many of whom are civil servants, according to the NPTDC.

Zayarthiri Township is home to the University of Agriculture, University of Forestry and University of Veterinary Science.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.