RANGOON — The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) recommended constructing garment factories in Sittwe Township’s Ponnakyun town, according to a statement released last week.
The statement was a response to the Central Committee for Implementation of Peace and Development in Arakan State—formed last year and led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi—that asked the MIC for recommendations to create local job opportunities to prevent internal migration from the region.
Ponnakyun lawmaker U Aung Than Tin said the suggested area where the factory would be located is 1,800 acres, beside the Rangoon-Sittwe Highway.
He said garment factories would be a welcome addition to the area.
“It would provide job opportunities for tens of thousands of locals so they don’t have to migrant to other places,” he said.
The statement said that garment factories should be a priority because of the available land and large female workforce in Ponnakyun town.
The MIC stated that because infrastructure in the region was underdeveloped, the state government should allow investors to use the land free of charge in order to attract investors.
The MIC suggested that a public company cooperate with a currently operating garment factory to construct a new facility in the region.
If the pilot project is implemented, it will be the first garment factory in Ponnakyun town.
“Locals will agree to the project because it will provide job opportunities for themselves and their children,” said U Aung Than Tin.
The MIC stated that investment in the area would receive an income tax exemption for seven years under section 75(a) of the Investment Law, in order to encourage investment in a less developed region of the country.
It continued that investors would enjoy exemptions or relief from customs duties and other internal taxes on the importation of raw materials and partially manufactured goods conducted by an export-oriented investment business for the purposes of the manufacture of products for export, according to the law’s section 77(b).
