The SEZ of 1,737 hectares in Kyaukphyu town is set to become the shortest and most economical gateway for trading goods between China and India. It also aims to attract investors from ASEAN countries. 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. Kyaukphyu is already being utilized as a port for the export and transport of local goods such as rice
Maung Maung Thein, Vice President of the Bid Evaluation and Awarding Committee (BEAC) said that the Kyaukphyu SEZ will be run by private companies, making Kyaukpyu different from Dawei and Thilawa SEZs, which are joint ventures between governments. The budget for the entire development of the zone is about $8 billion and the vision is to turn this island area into a mini Singapore. The management of the Kyaukphyu SEZ aims to make it an environmentally friendly zone. The focus of the SEZ in the beginning is the employment of locals to work in light industries.
The project will begin in February 2016 with an initial area of 100 hectares for developing an industrial park. The overall project is estimated to take about 20 to 30 years to complete. 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 Myanaung township be eco-tourism development zone.
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 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 Myeik Island and the deep-sea port project-2 is located at north of Yanpye.
The residential building project stands 12 km south of Kyaukphyu involving two village-tracts.
This project will promote the development of Rakhine state and make Kyaukphyu surrounding one of the main pillars of the country’s future economic development.
