Thilawa Special Economic Zone ( my, သီလဝါအထူးစီးပွားရေးဇုန်; abbreviated Thilawa SEZ) is a
special economic zone
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
being developed in
Kyauktan and
Thanlyin Township
Thanlyin (; or ; mnw, သေၚ်, ; formerly Syriam) is a major port city of Myanmar, located across Bago River from the city of Yangon. Thanlyin Township comprises 17 quarters and 28 village tracts. It is home to the largest port in the co ...
s, south of
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
city.
The first phase of the SEZ became operational at the end of September 2015.
History
The project was announced in January 2011.
Thilawa SEZ is being developed by a joint venture, initially between the
Japan External Trade Organization
is an Independent Administrative Institution established by Japan Export Trade Research Organization as a nonprofit corporation in Osaka in February 1952, reorganized under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in 1958 (later the ...
and the
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The Burmese and Japanese governments established a consortium including Japan Thilawa SEZ Company (backed by
Mitsubishi,
Marubeni and
Sumitomo corporations), Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings, Thilawa SEZ management committee and the
Japan International Cooperation Agency
The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...
(JICA) on 29 October 2013 to proceed with development.
Construction on the $3.28 billion project began in May 2014.
The first phase of the SEZ was slated to complete in 2016, but was became operational at the end of September 2015.
Management
The current
Chairman of Thilawa Special Economic Zone's Management Committee is
Winston Set Aung
Dr. Set Aung ( my, ဆက်အောင်) who is also known as Dr. Winston Set Aung is former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry. He also had multiple roles as Chairperson of Thilawa Special Economic Zone's Mana ...
.
See also
*
Special economic zone
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
*
Economy of Burma
The economy of Myanmar has a nominal GDP of US$69.26 billion in 2022 and an estimated purchasing power adjusted GDP of $257.34 billion in 2022 according to the International Monetary Fund. For the 2022 estimate, GDP per capita in Myan ...
External links
*
References
{{Burma SEZ, state=expanded
Special economic zones
Economy of Myanmar
Yangon Region
Japan International Cooperation Agency
Economy of Yangon