Japanese carmakers Suzuki and Toyota are bidding for parts and manufacturing facilities in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), according to Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC).
Aung Naing Oo, director general of the Myanmar Investment Commission, said the two Japanese auto giants and France-based auto parts manufacturer Lafarge have all made proposals to build facilities in the SEZ, which is a joint venture between Myanmar and Japan.
Thilawa SEZ, which will house high-tech and labour-intensive industries, is touted as the most-advanced of several foreign investment-driven SEZ projects in Myanmar, and is expected to have state-of-the-art infrastructure.
The Japanese-backed project is currently in the first phase of construction and will start commercial run in mid-2015, the zone’s management committee said last month. The committee expects
Thilawa to create nearly 200,000 jobs and double foreign investment in the 2014-15 fiscal year.
The committee also announced to sell 2.145 million shares of Thilawa SEZ in a bid to raise $21.8 million to fund the first phase of construction of the project.