Taiwan's aluminium maker launches $13m Thilawa plant
이 글자크기로 변경됩니다.
(예시) 가장 빠른 뉴스가 있고 다양한 정보, 쌍방향 소통이 숨쉬는 다음뉴스를 만나보세요. 다음뉴스는 국내외 주요이슈와 실시간 속보, 문화생활 및 다양한 분야의 뉴스를 입체적으로 전달하고 있습니다.
Abba Aluminium Co, headquartered in Taoyuan, held the opening ceremony for its factory in Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on December 24.
Initial investment amounted to US$13 million and 300-500 local employees will be hired, according to Abba's chair Chen Pai-chin. The estimated production value is expected to reach $32.5 million per year.
Mr Chen said the presence of a large number of "ethnic Chinese people in Myanmar" gives the country an edge over other CLMV economies (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) for manufacturers from Chinese-speaking countries.
He added that Myanmar's young workforce is another attraction.
Initiated by U Thein Sein's government in 2013, Thilawa is the only SEZ in operation here, attracting $1.50 billion foreign investments so far.
Owing to the government's disappointing handling of the economy, officials under the NLD administration have resorted to highlighting the former president's SEZ project to showcase economic progress. At the 2018 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Singapore last month, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi praised Thilawa SEZ as "a crowning success". "Investors from countries such as Japan, the United States, Germany, France, Sweden, Australia, China, India, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan have invested in the Thilawa SEZ," she told a regional audience.
Apart from Abba, there are four investors in Thilawa which are associated with Taiwan: Myanmar Century Steel Structure, Marketech Integrated Manufacturing Co, Minerva Co and Crecimiento Industrial Myanmar Co.
In an exclusive interview with this paper, Mr Chen also elaborated on the difficulties facing Taiwanese businesses in the country.
For him, the lack of efficiency in the Myanmar bureaucracy was frustrating. "It took our company one year to obtain the construction permit [for the Thilawa plant]," he said, adding that the high management and administrative fees in the zone were also a problem. Thilawa authorities do not allow accommodation for factory workers to be built within the zone, leading to workers residing in temporary facilities near the vicinity.
In addition, road connectivity between Thilawa and Yangon is extremely limited, with traffic and appalling road conditions causing severe disruption on logistics and transport. To that end, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has provided a loan to finance a new four-lane Bago River bridge to be built beside the current two-lane Thanlyin bridge. The new bridge is expected to become operational in 2021.
Taiwan's former economic affairs minister Yen-shiang Shih, speaking to The Myanmar Times after the event, highlighted the fact that Taiwan's overseas investments have exceeded $300 billion. "Myanmar, as an emerging market, has great potential to attract more Taiwanese investments," he noted.
In 2016, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen launched the New Southbound Policy (NSP), which seeks to strengthen Taipei's relationships with the ten ASEAN countries as well as other economies in the region. The island has been self-ruling since 1949 but China regards it as a breakaway province it will reunite with one day.
Chun-fu Chang, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office's representative in Myanmar, said Myanmar and the island have strengthened the collaboration in many areas, including investment and trade, under the NSP. "Myanmar has more than 250 approved Taiwanese investments over the years, bringing more than half a billion US dollar worth of businesses to the country," Mr Chang added.
https://www.mmtimes.com/news/taiwans-aluminium-maker-launches-13m-thilawa-plant.html
[¨Ï Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
Copyright © 매일경제 & mk.co.kr. 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지
- S. Korea¡¯s childbirth tally drops to another historic low in October
- BOK sets fixed annual inflation target of 2.0% for mid and long-term
- Mirae Asset Daewoo buys a part of Amazon's distribution center for $78 mn
- Groundbreaking ceremony for inter-Korean rail project
- Ssangyong E&C wins $750 mn expressway project in Singapore
- 강경준, 상간남 피소…사랑꾼 이미지 타격 [MK픽] - 스타투데이
- FI “1조 돌려달라”…정용진 ‘머니게임’ 毒 됐나
- 대만 치어리더 한국스포츠 첫 진출…K리그 수원FC - MK스포츠
- 이찬원, 이태원 참사에 "노래 못해요" 했다가 봉변 당했다 - 스타투데이
- 양희은·양희경 자매, 오늘(4일) 모친상 - 스타투데이