Myanmar plans economic zone for exports to India, China: Report

Myanmar has demarcated an area in Rakhine state to establish a special economic zone which aims to attract investors from Asean countries and export their goods to China and India, an official report said on Friday.

With Myanmar as the only strategic gateway between Asean, India and China, the SEZ of 1,737 hectares in Kyaukphyu town is the shortest and most economical gateway for trading goods between China and India, Xinhua reported.

Kyaukphyu will play a key role in the country's huge potential development sectors such as industry, forestry and fishery, oil and natural gas as well as servicing.

The initial phase of the Kyaukphyu SEZ development project will have three components, a deep-sea port, an industrial park and an integrated residential area.

The industrial park project will be implemented in a plot area of 8.5 km south of Kyaukphyu where there are five village-tracts, while the deep-sea port project-1 lies at a location north of Made Island and the deep-sea port project-2 is located north of Yanpye.

The residential building project stands 12 km south of Kyaukphyu involving two village-tracts.

The master plan covers three townships, of which Kyaukphyu will be mainly set as zone for developing industry, while Yanpye township be agro-based development zone and Manaung township be eco-tourism development zone.

The project will start implementation in February 2016 with an initial area of 100 hectares for developing an industrial park. The overall project will take 20 to 30 years.

Invitation of expression of interest process started in 2014.

The project, once successfully implemented, will contribute to enhancing the Asean economic integration and reap major economic benefit which can improve the country's economic sector, promote the development of Rakhine, create Kyaukphyu surrounding as a main pillar of the country's economic development, said experts.