Chin State Government invited local and foreign investors to study the investment opportunities in Chin State

Myanmar is intensifying efforts to draw investors to Chin State, which is the poorest region in the country.

At a Yangon fair held over the weekend to promote business and investment opportunities in Chin, the state’s chief minister Salai Lian Luai said promising sectors included hotels and tourism, agriculture, mining, textiles, infrastructure as well as hydropower and wind power.

Chin State remains among the least developed regions in Myanmar. To-date, there are only a handful of local hotel businesses operating and no foreign investments in the state. “The state government invites local and foreign investors to study the investment opportunities in the state. We will help them,” Salai Lian Luai said.

Held to help potential investors understand both existing and untapped areas of investment in the region, the Chin State Investment and Product Fair was co-organised by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, Chin State government, and Chin State Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The event was supported by UK-funded Dana Facility and law firm VDB Loi Company.

“Chin State has significant growth potential, coming from a modest baseline. We would like to help small and medium enterprises and farmers find financing and responsible business partners and also help to promote foreign direct investment reform to facilitate investment in the state, Jean Loi, managing partner of VDB Loi, said.

Foreign investors have indeed started to take interest in Chin’s potential for growth. On March 16, the Chin State government signed an MOU with a Norwegian power company for a US$50 million, 30-megawatt hydropower project.

The state also inked separate agreements with local investors for a hotel, crop plantation and urban housing project worth a total of $4 million, U Soe Htet, Chin State Minister of Municipal, Electricity, and Industry, told the Myanmar Times.

During the fair, vice president U Myint Swe referred to the national project bank, under which the Union government has prioritised a slew of infrastructure projects across the country, including in Chin State, which lacks basic transport infrastructure such as roads as well as reliable access to electricity.

To spur investments and demand for tourism, the government has committed to opening Surbung Airport in Falam township, Chin State, the first major airport in the state, by September 2020, U Ye Htut Aung, Deputy Director General of the Department of Civil Aviation, told The Myanmar Times last month.

Construction of the K30 billion-airport, which began in 2016-17, had originally been scheduled for completion in 2021-22 but will now be brought forward. The number of tourists visiting Chin State, which is home to Myanmar’s heart-shape Rih Lake and Nat Ma Taung National Park, is expected to rise once the airport is complete.

The regional government is also making plans to open smaller airports in Tiddim, Tonzang, Falam and Hakha townships.

The Union and state governments will work together to ensure development in Chin State. “The main barrier to investment for Chin State is the lack of infrastructure. However, these challenges can be converted to potentially lucrative opportunities,” said U Thaung Tun, chair of the MIC.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/efforts-draw-chin-investments-yield-positive-results.html )

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