By Kyaw Htike Soe
Foreign investments in Mandalay Region from January to early June this year amounted to more than US$ 73 million, according to a senior official from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration’s Mandalay branch.
Countries such as China, Japan, France and Republic of Korea invested in the five projects during these period, said the director of the DICA’s Mandalay branch. Investments from foreign countries in the Mandalay Region saw US$ 73.988 million while Myanmar citizen’s investments in the region were valued at Ks. 126,297 million. “We gave the green light to local companies for making investments which are valued at some Ks. 126297 million in the region and the majority of foreign investment in the first five month of this year flowed to electricity generation and manufacturing sectors,” she said.
Five foreigner-invested projects and five Myanmar citizen-invested projects were approved by the Mandalay Regional Investment Committee with the permission of the Myanmar Investment Commission. The director continued that foreign investments contributed to the creation of job prospects for local people, thereby increasing their income and socioeconomic status. Foreign investments in Mandalay Region for the year 2018 totaled over US$ 1.146 billion. The Myanmar Investment Commission permitted 21 foreign investment projects worth US$ 1146 million in the region during the period from April 2017 to March 2018.
Most of the investments from China, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands and France came to the industrial sector, she added. The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) expects that the region will attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) in the next year. Under the Myanmar Investment Law, foreign investors can lease land from the government for 50 years.
An international cargo port is being built in Mandalay with financial assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), according to the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems (DWIR). The DWIR and JICA signed an agreement for the development of the project that will be built with ¥ 6,033 million provided by the JICA. “We have already conducted environmental impact assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) for the project. The developers are Japanese companies and construction of the inland port may take around two years, said an official from the DWIR.
Construction of the project started in December last and the intention of the project is to transport commodities faster than before and to modernize the Mandalay Port which is the second major port in Myanmar, in order to promote inland water transport systems. The project is part of the International Transport Strategy Projects that was drawn up in 2014 with the help of the JICA. Field assessment for the project was conducted from August 2013 to February 2014. Mandalay Port will experience a lot of traffic after the project is completed under the JICA guidelines. Land compensation will be paid within two weeks,” he added.
The facility, located near Shwehlabo Monastery, will be 180 meters in length and the approach road is 304 meters long. It will also include a container yard measuring 8,550 square meters, a port control office, machinery to load cargo on and off ships and a security office.
