YANGON—The Yangon regional government on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with LexisNexis Southeast Asia, a provider of information analytics, to help set up a reliable housing and real estate information system (HREIS) for Myanmar’s commercial capital.
According to the regional government, LexisNexis will carry out the initial analysis for the HREIS, the first step in a four-part process that will also include conducting a tender process, setting up the HREIS, and maintaining the system.
The HREIS will help the government lay down effective real estate tax policies, make market predictions and draw up the city’s future development plans, the regional government said.
Based in the US, LexisNexis provides information analytics to law firms, corporations, governments and academic institutions globally.
Yangon is home to nearly 8 million people. Of the 1.6 million households in the city, 64 percent own houses and 36 percent are renting accommodation, according to the regional government. For many years, a lack of accurate housing and property data has been a major problem for the real estate industry in particular, making it difficult to estimate property values and crack down on problems such as tax evasion, while also contributing to market instability.
Yangon Region Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein said his government decided to partner with LexisNexis because it is hard to draw up the city’s future development plans without accurate data.
The company offered to conduct a pre-scoping free of charge, he said, referring to the process of defining the aims and outlines of a project.
The system will store real estate facts and information in one place. Establishing an HREIS makes real estate policymaking, property price prediction and development planning much simpler by collating facts and information, the chief minister added.
According to the MOU, the related government departments and organizations will have to collaborate with the company on the data analytics process. The government has not yet revealed when the project will start.
LexisNexis Southeast Asia managing director Gaythri Raman said she hoped the project would support improved access to affordable housing for the city’s residents.
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