Myanmar Govt to Look to International Companies on Dawei

Myanmar will open tenders for international companies to be involved in the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), after it was revealed last week that Italian-Thai Development, the group initially responsible for the main development of the site, will no longer be key drivers of the project.
Speaking at a press conference in Yangon last week, U Aye Myint, chairman of the Dawei project said that two companies formed by the Myanmar and Thailand governments, named Special Purpose Vehicle (1) and (2), would take a lead role in the multi-million dollar development.
He added that due to the sheer scale of the development, which involves building a deep-sea port and key infrastructure, international companies would be invited to apply for tenders on the project, including ITD.
“They can keep working if they want, but they will have to compete with other international observers,” he said.
U Set Aung, chairman of the Dawei zone, said that the committee was undergoing a review of the work already completed by ITD and that once this was finalised, companies would be invited to apply for licenses.
“No company in the whole world can do this project as the sole developer. We need to determine how much the Italian-Thai company has invested in this project by a due diligence assessment,” he said.
International audit companies Ernst & Young, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) have been invited to submit proposals for the due diligence assessment said Set Aung, with the work expected to be completed by April 2014.
According to reports, ITD has said it invested around $189 million in Dawei and expected a full reimbursement of those costs, plus interest.
“The auditing firms will assess how much ITD spent on this SEZ,” said Set Aung.
Due to the cease of operations brought about by the review, an estimated 1,200 local workers will be out of work until the work begins, labour leaders have said.
The project has been hit by financial and environmental issues since plans were announced. The Myanmar government has attempted to convince the Japanese government to play a role in the project, although it is thought that Japan is more interested in the Thilawa project closer to Yangon.
Villagers in the region have also complained about the contamination of their water due to mining in the area.