Mandalay’s total investments hit US$ 5.5 billion since data collection began up until April this year (Directorate of Investment and Company Administration – DICA)

Mandalay has ac­crued K3 trillion worth of local investment and $2.3 bil­lion of foreign investment since counting began up until April this year, ac­cording to statistics of the Directorate of Investment and Company Adminis­tration (DICA).

The total is spread among 132 local busi­nesses and 38 foreign businesses from 13 coun­tries, with the region’s in­dustrial sector reaping the majority of investment.

“When we compare the investment volume coun­try by country, Singapore comes first place in Man­dalay followed by China and Hong Kong,” said Daw Nwe Ni Oo, Director of DICA.

“Mandalay received in­vestments from the busi­nesses of 13 countries but the total amount is still lower than in Yangon, but hopefully it will increase year-on-year,” she said.

The region’s real estate, and hotels and tourism sectors ranked second and third respectively in the amount of combined foreign and local invest­ment secured last fiscal year. The oil and gas and hotels and tourism sec­tors secured the second and third most foreign in­vestment after the indus­trial sector.

The Myanmar Invest­ment Commission (MIC) and DICA in Mandalay Region are working to­gether to speed up and promote investment.

Earlier this year the MIC made investors in Man­dalay eligible for special income tax exemptions. Two townships in Manda­lay Region - Ngazun and Myingyan – were granted Zone 1 status, meaning they fall into the ‘least de­veloped’ category and are eligible for 7 year tax ex­emptions.

Other townships in Man­dalay Region qualified un­der Zone 2 and are eligible for a five-year breaks while only townships in Man­dalay and Yangon were deemed ‘least developed’ and can apply for three-year breaks.

In April, the MIC ap­proved $154 million worth of foreign invest­ment in electricity pro­duction, and plastic manufacturing projects in Mandalay Region, said Daw Nwe Ni Oo.

Mandalay Region ac­counts for 10 percent of total foreign and local investment in Myanmar, according to the statics of DICA.

(Myanmar Business Today: http://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/industrial-businesses-lead-way-mandalay-total-investments-hit-55bn )

​