Government plans Hpa-an zone to kick-start Kayin economy

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Government plans Hpa-an zone to kick-start Kayin economy

Myanmar Times, 05 Dec 2016

URL: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/24044-government-plans-hpa-an-zone-to-kick-start-kayin-economy.html
In an attempt to boost the economy of Kayin State, the government has announced a strategy to attract entrepreneurs to the Hpa-an industrial zone in the state capital. Deputy planning minister U Maung Maung Win told parliament on December 1 that the plan involved worker training and development, and improved infrastructure.

“Domestic and foreign investors will be invited and strategy and tactics worked out to develop Hpa-an industrial zone,” the deputy minister told MPs.
The deputy minister also pledged that the government would ensure high-tech support for the companies that would invest in the zone – including a reliable electricity supply – to enable them to produce high-quality products on a continuous basis.

He said about 90 people were now working in nine businesses that were already up and running, and a further 810 workers were undergoing training to take up jobs in two garment factories that would open soon.

The development of the Hpa-an industrial zone has been delayed because of disputes over the ownership of nearby farmland, and because of the general sluggishness of the local Kayin State economy. The 969-acre zone was set up in 2011.