Economic zones in Myanmar
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Laws and regulations
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Myanmar Special Economic Zone Law. |
| Date of publication: | | 27 January 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | ( The State Peace and Development Council Law No. 8 / 2011)
The 8th Waning Day of Pyatho, 1372. M.E.
(27th January, 2011)
The State Peace and Development Council hereby enacts the following Law:
Chapter I -
Title and Definition.
1 This Law shall be called the Myanmar Special Economic Zone Law. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | State Peace and Development Council |
| Format/size: | | pdf (94K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 January 2012 |
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| Title: | | THE DAWEI SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE LAW/ ထား၀ယ္အထူး စီးပြားေရးဇုံ ဥပေဒ |
| Date of publication: | | 27 January 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | The Union of Myanmar (The State Peace and Development Council Law No. 17/2011) 8th Waning of Pyatho, 1372 M.E. ( 27th January , 2011)..... ျပည္ေထာင္စုျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံေတာ္၊ ထား၀ယ္အထူး စီးပြားေရးဇံု ဥပေဒ၊ (ႏိုင္ငံေတာ္ ေအးခ်မ္းသာယာေရးႏွင့္ ဖြံ႔ၿဖဳိးေရးေကာင္စီ ဥပေဒ အမွတ္ ၁၇/ ၂၀၁၁) ၁၃၇၂ ခုႏွစ္ ျပာသို လျပည့္ေက်ာ္ (၈) ရက္၊(၂၀၁၁ ခုႏွစ္ ဇႏၷ၀ါရီလ ၂၇ ရက္) |
| Language: | | English/Burmese |
| Source/publisher: | | The Union of Myanmar, The State Peace and Development Council |
| Format/size: | | pdf (671K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 September 2012 |
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Industrial zones - general studies
Individual Documents
| Title: | | The Regional Development Policy of Thailand and Its Economic Cooperation with Neighboring Countries |
| Date of publication: | | July 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | Abstract:
"Thailand has recently strengthened its economic policy toward its neighboring countries in coordination
with domestic regional development. It is widely recognized that economic cooperation with
neighboring countries is essential in preventing the inflow of illegal labor and effectively utilizing labor
and resources through the relocation of production bases. This direction is strengthened by elaborating
the GMS-EC and the ECS (Economic Cooperation Strategy). In addition, economic dependency of the
neighboring countries on Thailand is generally high. In this report, firstly, Thai regional development
policy will be made clear in relation to its economic policy toward neighboring countries as well as the
status quo of the industrial estates. Secondly, Thai policy toward the neighboring countries is examined
referring to the concept of wide-ranging economic zones, regional economic cooperation and special
border economic zones. Thirdly, the paper will discuss how closely the economies between Thailand
and the neighboring countries are related through trade and investment. Lastly, some implications on
Japan's economic cooperation will also be explored."...Keywords: industrial estates, GMS-EC, ECS, economic corridors, border zones |
| Author/creator: | | Takao TSUNEISHI |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Institute of Developing Economies, Discussion Paper No. 32 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (674K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Dp/pdf/032_tsuneishi.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 16 July 2006 |
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| Title: | | Industrial Development in Myanmar: Prospects and Challenges |
| Date of publication: | | 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | "...we should look back Myanmar’s history on industrial policy.
Every government to date since independence, either civilian or military,
and either democratic or socialist, has approached the problem of the private sector with great concern and trepidation. Whenever they wanted to
accommodate and integrate the energy of private enterprises into the national economy, the socialist philosophy, anti-capitalist attitude, control-prone disposition and xenophobia based on the bitter colonial experiences
provided obstacles, with the redefinition of the role of the private sector
being left vague and halfway.
The transition to market-oriented economy in the 1990s seems to be a historical exception. The various reform measures taken by the military government apparently show their strong commitment toward a full-fledged
market economy. The author calls the present transformation of the economy the Third Wave, and assures himself that it has been the biggest wave of
liberalization in Myanmar’s industrial history.
Compared with the previous two waves, which the author thinks occurred in the latter half of the
1950s and in the mid-1970s, the present regime has committed itself much more clearly to market economic principles and the enhanced role of the
private sector.
Nevertheless, the history still exhibits a reserve to be fully confident in
government policy toward a market economy. Recent backtracking of economic reforms is certainly something to be worried. It would be necessary
for the military government to commit itself again to such ideas as open
markets, free competition, transparency, accountability, consistency, level
playing field, freedom of information and rule of law, which are the foundations for a free and fair market-oriented economy. Without the govern
ment’s commitment to those ideas, the private sector would never be confident on public polices, and as a result, the full-fledged investments would
never be forthcoming."
See Toshihiro Kudo, “Industrial Policy in Myanamr: Lessons from the Past” in Industrial Devel
opment and Reforms in Myanmar: ASEAN and Japanese Perspectives, (Bangkok, The Sasakawa
Southeast Asia Cooperation Fund, 1999).
43 |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | IDE- Institute of Developing Economies / JETRO - Japan External Trade Organization |
| Format/size: | | pdf (642K), html |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs14/Industrial_Development_in_Myanmar-Prospects_and_Challenges.pdf
http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs14/Industrial_Development_in_Myanmar_Prospects_and_Challenges-balan... |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 September 2012 |
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Special Economic Zones
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Other Special Economic Zones
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Myanmar, Japan to build vast industrial zone |
| Date of publication: | | 21 December 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Myanmar and Japan agreed to start work next year on a huge industrial zone near Yangon, officials from the two countries said Friday, as the impoverished nation hungrily eyes foreign investment.
The 2,400-hectare Thilawa project will include a port and industrial park and be up and running in 2015, according to Japan’s Ministry for Economic, Trade and Industries (METI)..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | AFP |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 24 December 2012 |
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| Title: | | Danger Zone - Giant Chinese industrial zone threatens Burma’s Arakan coast (English and Burmese) |
| Date of publication: | | 17 December 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "China’s plans to build a giant industrial
zone at the terminal of its Shwe gas
and oil pipelines on the Arakan coast
will damage the livelihoods of tens of
thousands of islanders and spell doom
for Burma’s second largest mangrove
forest.
The 120 sq km “Kyauk Phyu Special
Economic Zone” (SEZ) will be managed
by Chinese state-owned CITIC group
on Ramree island, where China is
constructing a deep sea port for
ships bringing oil from the Middle
East and Africa. An 800-km railway
is also being built from Kyauk Phyu
to Yunnan, under a 50 year BOT
(Build-Operate-Transfer) agreement,
forging a Chinese-managed trade
corridor from the Indian Ocean across
Burma. Investment in the railway
and SEZ, China’s largest in Southeast
Asia, is estimated at US $109 billion
over 35 years.
Construction of the pipelines and
deep-sea port has already caused
large-scale land confiscation. Now 40
villages could face direct eviction from
the SEZ, while many more fear the
impacts of toxic waste and pollution
from planned petrochemical and metal
industries. No information has been
provided to local residents about the
projects.
It is urgently needed to have stringent
regulations in place to protect
the people and environment before
projects such as these are implemented
in Burma." |
| Language: | | English, Burmese/ ျမန္မာဘာသာ |
| Source/publisher: | | Arakan Oil Watch |
| Format/size: | | pdf (810K-English; 1MB-Burmese) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs14/Danger-Zone-bu-red.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 16 December 2012 |
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| Title: | | Rohingya miss boat on development |
| Date of publication: | | 09 November 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "The ethnic conflict that ravaged much of Rakhine State in western Myanmar last month was an opportunity for more than settling old and new scores between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhines and co-religionist new arrivals from elsewhere in the country.
Those involved were also clearing land in a densely populated area that is set to be among the country's prime bits of real estate as energy-related projects start transforming the impoverished state.
More than 100 people (some reports indicate many times that number) were killed last month, untold others were wounded, and an estimated 28,000 fled or were driven from their homes in clashes between the stateless Rohingya and Buddhist citizens in a recurrence of violence last June. They are the latest incidents involving evicted ethnic groups around the country weeks before US President Obama visits Myanmar later this month.
"The government has taken the opportunity to create more violence allowing a destabilized and vulnerable state which they can then take the natural resources from. This is believed to be the main reason to why so many villages [in Rakhine State] were razed to the ground," the representative of one non-government organization (NGO) told Asia Times Online, citing the source as a Rakhine resident..." |
| Author/creator: | | Syed Tashfin Chowdhury and Chris Stewart |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "Asia Times Online" |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 09 November 2012 |
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| Title: | | Thilawa SEZ by Early 2013: Govt Official |
| Date of publication: | | 24 October 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "The Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located 25 km south of Rangoon should be operational early next year, Dr. Kan Zaw, Burmese Minister for National Planning and Economic Development, told a seminar on Sunday.
The project will be jointly controlled by the Japan External Trade Organization and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) with a 49 and 51 percent share respectively, said the government official.
“All these instances of sound economics have materialized after we implemented reform,” said Kan Zaw. “We invited international investment. This Thilawa SEZ is the product of creating an investor-friendly environment.”
Under the umbrella of the UMFCCI, shareholders of many associations from difference industrial sectors are expected to invest, but critics have complained about a lack of transparency and the possibility of a monopoly..." |
| Author/creator: | | May Lay |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 24 October 2012 |
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| Title: | | Four more special industrial zones set for Burma |
| Date of publication: | | 03 October 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Burma plans to set up seven more local industrial zones in addition to the existing 18 in the country, official state-run media said on Wednesday.
The seven planned new industrial zones will be located in Tatkon in Naypyitaw, Yadanarbon in Mandalay, Hpa-an, Myawaddy and Phayathonzu in Kayin state, Ponnagyun in Rakhine State and Namoum in Shan state, the Ministry of Industry announced in the New Light of Myanmar.
The expansion will bring the number of such zones to 25 in the country, the report said, adding that the new industrial zones will be able to generate many jobs for local residents.
Burma also has several special economic zone (SEZ) projects such as Thilawa in Yangon's Thilawa Port, Dawei in southern Taninthayi region and Kyaukphyu in western Rakhine State..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "Mizzima" News" |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 October 2012 |
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| Title: | | Three Japanese industrial groups to establish special economic zone in Myanmar |
| Date of publication: | | 02 September 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Three Japanese industrial and economic groups have reached an agreement with the Myanmar government to jointly establish a special economic zone (SEZ), Thilawa, in Yangon's Thilawa Port, local media Voice reported Sunday.
Under the agreement, Japan's Mitsuibishi Corporation, Marubeni Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation will obtain 49 percent of stake to run the 2,400-hectare Thilawa SEZ, while Myanmar entrepreneurs in the form of public company, will take 56 percent, Myanmar's Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry was quoted as saying.
The Japanese side will provide financial assistance to the SEZ' s infrastructural development such as factories and workshops and one natural-gas-fired power plant, the report said.
In addition to foreign investors, Myanmar government has also invited domestic entrepreneurs to make investment in the project through share. However, the permitted amount of the investment and the duration of the project and other details have not been revealed, the report added..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar Business Network |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 September 2012 |
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| Title: | | Myanmar, foreign companies to implement SEZ in southwestern region |
| Date of publication: | | 19 January 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Some three Myanmar companies and four foreign ones will jointly implement a special economic zone (SEZ) project in Pathein, southwestern Ayeyawady region in 2013 in a bid to promote national economy, a local media reported Thursday.
Two companies from Thailand, one each from China's Hong Kong and Indonesia and Myanmar big companies -- Shwe Than Lwin Co.,Htoo Trading Co.and IGD will be involved in implementing the project named Myanmar Super Axis worth about 5.5 billion U.S. dollars, the 7-Day News said.
The project, covering an area of 3,037 hectares and including a deep sea-port, ecotourism and three industrial zones, represents the largest project in the region.
The project, which is expected to be completed by 2025, was granted by the Myanmar government.
Meanwhile, a special economic zone (SEZ) in Myawaddy, southeastern Kayin State, is also being planned with the cooperation of Thailand.
The economic zone also includes the Hpa-an industrial zone and more such zones will follow in Thingan Nyinaung in the same state as well as in Mon, Shan and Tanintharyi states and region." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Xinhua |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 September 2012 |
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| Title: | | Newly Emerging Industrial Development Nodes in Myanmar: Ports, Roads, Industrial Zones along Economic Corridors |
| Date of publication: | | 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction
1. Dawei
2. Kyauk Phyu
3. Sittway
4. Thilawa
5. Monywa
6. Pakokku
7. Challenges of Connectivity
Conclusion....."Considering the cross-border transport infrastructure in East Asia, the location of Myanmar is crucial in connecting China, India and ASEAN countries. As a matter of fact, neighbouring countries have started infrastructure investment in Myanmar. Thailand is enthusiastic in developing deep sea ports and industrial complexes at Dawei, which will create a new alternative international trade route other than the present maritime route through the Malacca Strait. China has undertaken the deep sea port at Kyauk Phyu and the pipeline to Yunnan Province in order to build a logistic route to supply energy such as petroleum from Middle East and natural gas from the Shwe Gas Project near Kyauk Phyu. And China is also interested in investing in the port and industrial complex at Thilawa, a city located about 30 km from Yangon, and now it will appear as a special economic zone (SEZ). India has started to develop the port of Sittway in order to open a gateway from the northeastern part of India and link to a sea line through the Kaladan River and Sittway Port. The development of these port areas increases the connectivity among Thailand, India, China and Myanmar. In addition, the cities on the opposite shore of the Ayeyawady River, such as Monywa and Pakokku, have obtained a better possibility of being industrialized by constructing new bridges. On the other hand, the government of Myanmar has issued the Special Economic Zone Law and the Dawei Special Economic Zone Law. Similar laws for Thilawa and Kyauk Phyu would be enacted.
The purpose of this study is to make clear the government plan for regional
187
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development in Myanmar, and examine the connectivity between the designated regions . "
and metropolises such as Yangon and Mandalay and the potential for industrial
development on the routes to metropolises.
In order to realize further industrialization and smooth logistics in the metropolitan area, it is necessary to point out the locations of industrial estates, ports and harbors, and airports. At the same time, the supply and demand of the infrastructure should be important. On the other hand, the development of roads and city planning has to accompany the growth of the region.
In order to identify these challenges, a field survey was conducted in some local cities and ports of Yangon in August 20 11, collecting various data on industrial estates, ports and harbors, airports, roads, railways and other development projects. 1 This chapter describes the situation of 4 local cities in Myanmar; Dawei, Kyauk Phyu, Monywa and Pakokku; and identifies their potential as emerging development nodes of new economic corridors in Myanmar as well as in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)..." |
| Author/creator: | | Aung Min and Toshihiro Kudo |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Emerging Economic Corridors in the Mekong Region, edited by Masami Ishida, BRC Research Report No.8, Bangkok Research Center, IDE-JETRO, Bangkok, Thailand. |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.01MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Download/Brc/08.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 September 2012 |
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| Title: | | The price of Special Economic Zones |
| Date of publication: | | 03 August 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "A lot have been said about the benefits of establishing a special economic zone (SEZ). It is seen to boost national economy as it would attract foreign investments brought by a much friendlier set of regulations in terms of duties and tariffs which results in an atmosphere more conducive to a smoother influx of goods and services. This may result in employment and, probably, development of new technologies.
Establishment of SEZs is part of the Asian Development Bank's "economic corridor" approach to development which includes construction of super highways, railways and transmission lines to hasten trade and investment among countries in a given region. An SEZ complements this development approach as it opens up a country to the global economy.
However, there are tradeoffs that may come with SEZs: prostitution, human trafficking, displacement and even drug abuse. Here's a compelling story that provides a glimpse of how SEZs affect local communities. Focusing on Laos, the author shares the impact of establishing SEZs. Without putting the right safeguards in place to hold the government and the ADB accountable, local communities are exposed to exploitation..." |
| Author/creator: | | Burrito |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | NGO Forum on ADB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 September 2012 |
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| Title: | | Boom or Bust? |
| Date of publication: | | August 2010 |
| Description/subject: | | The Burmese junta is moving ahead with the Myawaddy special economic zone, which may or may not benefit the DKBA...
"The Burmese military regime has long talked about, but never implemented, a special economic zone (SEZ) near the Burma-Thailand border. But the junta’s cabinet recently approved the official creation of the SEZ, along with a plan to increase investment in the project.
This could result in a business boom for Col. Chit Thu and his Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) cronies who control the area surrounding the SEZ and have already established their own commercial empire on the border. But if the project is too successful, it could turn into a bust for Chit Thu, because the junta might want to keep control in the hands of its own generals..." |
| Author/creator: | | Alex Ellgee |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 18, No. 8 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 31 August 2010 |
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| Title: | | Industrial zones in Burma and Burmese labour in Thailand |
| Date of publication: | | January 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Conclusion:
"Massive migration of Burmese workers into Thailand affects both
countries. On one hand, it depletes the availability of skilled workers
in Burma, which is a clear loss for a developing country, while on the
other hand, Thailand benefits from such a reservoir of cheap manpower.
Burma receives the monthly remittances of its expatriate workers, but
Thai entrepreneurs capitalise on the value added to their export-oriented
productions by the work of the Burmese migrants.
Each country is aware of the size of the phenomenon and its impact
on their economy, but each reacts differently. The Myanmar junta
chooses to ignore the huge emigration taking place, because it reduces
the potential of social, if not political, demands building up within
society. The Thai government plays down the boost given to its economy
by the widespread use of cheap Burmese workers by its industries, and
prefers to play up the supposed or real social disorders said to be brought
by Burmese immigrants: increase of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis
industrial zones in burma 181
and HIV; the drain on hospital resources to care for sick Burmese;45 the
expansion of prostitution; and murders and thefts. The dual attitude
of the Thai authorities is politically useful to hide their own social and
health shortcomings from their own population. The contribution of
migrants to the Thai economy is still unrecognised officially, although
a new vision’ towards migrants is beginning to appear in government
circles, probably out of necessity and to be in accordance with the
Economic Cooperation Strategy illustrated by the launch of the first
economic and industrial zone in Myawaddy-Mae Sot. For their part,
Burmese authorities, until now ignoring the plight of their expatriate
workers, recently realised the potential political benefits of monitoring
such a huge workforce in Thailand." |
| Author/creator: | | Guy Lubeigt |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | 2006 Burma Update Conference via Australian National University |
| Format/size: | | pdf (760K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://epress.anu.edu.au/myanmar/pdf/whole_book.pdf
http://epress.anu.edu.au/myanmar/pdf_instructions.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 December 2008 |
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