Look beyond Yangon, businesses urged
March 27, 2014 Leave a comment
PUBLISHED MARCH 19, 2014
Look beyond Yangon, businesses urged
JAIRA KOH
THE chief ministers of Myanmar’s various regions yesterday urged Singapore businesses to look more at tapping emerging opportunities outside Yangon. They said at a dialogue arranged by IE Singapore that an international airport was coming up in the Bago region and that Mandalay provides opportunities for traders as it has become a major channel for the growing trade between Myanmar, China and India.
Chief ministers U Myint Swe, U Ye Myint and U Nyan Win of Yangon, Mandalay and Bago, respectively, were participants in the IE Singapore Global Conversations dialogue and are here on a study visit. They said that in the case of the upcoming Hanthawaddy International Airport in Bago, it would provide a market for related services such as maintenance, repair and operations engineering. Mandalay, as a channel for trade between Myanmar, China and India, would be of interest to export-oriented Singapore firms.
IE Singapore chief executive officer Teo Eng Cheong added: “Much of the business interest has naturally been focused on Yangon, but Myanmar is also a vast country with significant growth potential in many other regions.” He also said that many local firms had secured contracts in the infrastructure, urban development and hospitality sectors. Singapore construction company Tiong Seng and precast company Poh Cheong have plans to set up precast concrete plants there.
Yangon is Myanmar’s largest city, and its commercial and industrial centre. Singapore is Myanmar’s third largest trade partner, with $3 billion in trade between the two nations in 2013 – 70 per cent more than in 2012, according to IE Singapore.
Subscribers, log in here to read the full story. If you do not have an account,subscribe here.