Roundup: Small enterprises dominate industrial zones in Myanmar

Small private industrial enterprises are dominating industrial zones across Myanmar, leading in the sustainable development of the country's industrial sector, according to local media.

There are 19 industrial zones throughout the country with a total of 9,574 industrial enterprises operating, with small, medium and heavy industries taking take 57.48 percent, 25.24 percent and 17.28 percent respectively, a release of the Myanmar Industrial Development Committee disclosed.

In terms of the number of enterprises, the Mandalay Industrial Zone stands first with 1,109, followed by the Monywa with 1,006 and the Yangon West District with 1,003.

In terms of heavy industries, the Hlaingthaya Industrial Zone in Yangon tops with 316, followed by the Mandalay with 185 and Yangon West district with 144.

Of the 19 industrial zones across Myanmar, five are situated at new satellite towns of Yangon such as Hlaingtharya, Dagon Myothit, Shwepyitha, Shwepaukkan, Mingaladon and Thanlyin-Kyauktan. Of these industrial zones in Yangon, the 453-hectare Hlaingtharya zone is regarded as the most developed one.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is planning an exceptional special industrial zone, the Thilawa, to be established with 100-percent foreign investment in a bid to absorb increased inflow of foreign investment to promote Myanmar's industrial development.

The Thilawa zone is expected to become the first export concentration zone, in which all formalities for export of the zone's products will be handled.

The manufacturing or industrial sector is also dominating Myanmar's domestic private investment with 31.483 billion Kyats ( 28.62 million US dollars) out of a total of 122.73 billion Kyats ( 111.57 million dollars) as of January this year since 1988, according to the National Investment Commission.

Myanmar has been encouraging the private sector in industrial development. The private sector contributed 90 percent to the country's industrial sector in 2002-03, 92 percent in 2003-04 and over 93 percent in 2004-05.

The government has stressed the need to fully operate the existing old and new factories and to build more as well as to improve both in quantity and quality with the use of advanced technologies, calling for cooperative efforts between the state and the private sector to strive for the emergence of an industrial nation.

In another move to help develop the industrial sector, Myanmar has since 1995 been privatizing state-owned enterprises (SOE) systematically including industrial ones with the aim of transforming them into more effective and efficient ones.

So far, a total of 194 SOE from 10 ministries, including 26 from the Ministry of Industry, have been privatized as of March this year since the country began implementation of the plan of privatization.

Although the industrial sector accounts for about 11 percent of the country's gross domestic products, economists said that it still has a long way to go for the sector to contribute more to the national economy and efforts are still needed on the development of medium and heavy industries.

Source: Xinhua