Yangon Southwest New City will be implemented by a joint venture agreement between the Yangon Region government and local construction developers, and the government expects the implementation process to start on April 1, 2017.
The new city project was discussed by lawmakers at the Yangon regional parliament session last week and the regional government submitted to the legislature a regional planning bill which has included a new city project.
Regional MP Daw Sandar Min (NLD; Seikgyi Khanaungto 1), chair of the Financing, Economic and Planning Committee, said that the regional government should submit the new city project separately because this is not a small project and it will cost billions of kyats.
She said that the members of Myanmar Construction Entrepreneur Association will invest in the project and they are expected to form a public company to be called Yangon Metropolitan Development Public Limited.
“Currently, there are 26 founders [needed] to form the company but the public company should involve one hundred members. So, we cannot call it a public company now. It is just a private company,” she said.
According to the joint venture agreement, the Yangon regional government will invest 51 percent and the remaining 49 percent will be contributed by private investors.
Yangon Mayor U Maung Maung Soe told the Myanmar Times that the regional government is moving forward with plans to extend the commercial capital by building and developing western townships through the “new city” project. The expansion envisages building Kyeemyindaing, Seikgyi Kanaungto and Twante townships to alleviate pressures on the current infrastructure, redirecting the population growth and traffic to new housing and commercial hubs.
A similar city project was discussed under the previous government, but the opposition MPs and developers criticised the regional government’s lack of transparency on the procedures.
U Myint Swe, as the then-chief minister of Yangon, announced to invite a new tender for the new city project, selecting three companies to implement the project. Three companies which competed in the process were Yangon South West Development Public Co, Business Capital City Development and Shwe Popa International Construction.
The then-administration offered all three bidders to implement the project but neither side released any details of their plan. The firms couldn’t begin construction yet because the NLD’s regional government listed this project as being under review.
They were also planning to build a bridge across the Hlaing river to link the city’s downtown area but the bridge was also included on the review list.
The Yangon regional government announced their new plan to construct an international port in Yangon to improve investments and attract foreigner investors.
In late February, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said that the regional government will launch the Yangon New City project in Kyeemyindaing township, but the three firms involved in the Yangon Southwest New City were not informed about the new plan.
Ref: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/25485-yangon-to-commence-southwest-new-city-in-april.html