Japanese Retail Giant AEON Shelves Myanmar Mall Plans

By The Irrawaddy 21 May 2021

Japanese retailer AEON has postponed the construction of what would have been the largest shopping mall in Myanmar due to the military takeover.

The decision came amid growing uncertainty since the February coup. The retailer has not given any new schedule.

The US$180 million (296 billion kyat) project was approved under the National League for Democracy government in August last year as a joint venture between Japan’s AEON Mall Co. with a 70-percent stake and Myanmar’s Shwe Taung Co. with 30 percent.

AEON is one of the biggest commercial developers in Japan, focusing on regional shopping mall development. It operates 142 malls in Japan, 21 in China and nine in three ASEAN countries.

Shwe Taung is one of Myanmar’s leading developers, implementing township developments, industrial parks, shopping malls, high-end residences and offices.

The AEON Mall, which was due to become the largest mall in the country, was planned for a 7-hectare plot in Yangon’s Dagon Seikkan Township.

According to developers, the five-story mall would have spanned about 111,480 square meters of gross floor space and included 2,300 parking spaces. The mall was scheduled to open in 2023 and create 2,300 jobs.

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