TEEMA Planning to Pour NT$14 Bn. into Developing Industrial Park in Myanmar

To better tap the lucrative growth potential of the Myanmar, the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA) intends to spend NT$14 billion (about US$466.67 million) to develop an industrial park in the country's southern Ayeyarwady division.

According to industry insiders, TEEMA has already signed a letter of intent with its Myanmar counterpart to solicit 1,400 hectares of land from the government there. The association has also commissioned the Taiwan-based Sinotech Engineering Consultants Inc., a corporate consultant, to assess the feasibility of the project.

At a meeting with Taiwan's Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, Economics Minister Woody Duh confirmed TEEMA's project and said that the protection of Taiwanese investment in Myanmar is expected to see significant progress in the next two months. With trade and economic relations between Taiwan and Myanmar gradually heating up, Duh went on to say, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will provide all necessary assistance to Taiwanese enterprises interested in exploring the market there.

Guo Tai-chiang, chairman of both TEEMA and the Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., a world-leading contract maker of electrical connectors and adaptors, noted that Japan and Korea are the most active countries in encouraging their firms to invest in Myanmar. For example, Guo said, the Japanese government provides preferential financing aid, in association with local banks, to Japanese firms developing business there.

Guo commented that investment in Myanmar can be a good alternative to investment in China and Vietnam, given that labor shortages and the recent anti-China rioting have aroused concerns among overseas Taiwanese firms operating in those countries.

Once the planned industrial park is in operation, Guo stressed, a thorough supply chain will likely be built up there, making it easier for Taiwanese firms it to explore the Myanmar market. This is especially significant given Taiwan's lack of membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the stalemate over the signing of a cross-strait agreement on trade in goods and services with China.

Interestingly, Cheng Uei's subsidiary, Foxlink, will pioneer Taiwanese migration into the planned industrial park by setting up a fossil-fuel power station there to help alleviate Myanmar's power shortages. (SC)