Eurocham was organized the first Eurocham Construction Forum in Yangon in order to address the development of the country’s infrastructure and foreign investment

The first ever EuroCham Construction Forum took place on Tuesday in Yangon to address the development of the country’s infrastructure and foreign investment. 

According to the officials, Myanmar’s transportation infrastructure is lagging far behind compared to the countries in the Southeast Asian Region. As many believes that development of transportation

infrastructure can boost the country’s economic growth, the forum aims to bring all players together not only to learn insight of the industry, practices of the international but also to promote further investment and business ties. The officials share their hopes for the investment and expect to achieve through the forum.

Deputy Director General, Ministry of Construction, Kyi Zaw Myint said “For infrastructure development, especially for roads and bridges, we already laid out the plan for investment for infrastructure. Through this kind of forum, we’d share our sustainable development plan, investment opportunities and related process to attract more foreign investments because we need 41.25 Billion USD until 2035 for roads and bridges development. Currently, the country’s budget expenditure on transport sector is low … only 1-1.5% of the budget. Through this forum, we are hoping to boost public-private-partnership in construction industry.”

Industry players shared things that need to address and assure further cooperation for the development of the industry.

Executive Director, EUROCHAM Myanmar, Filip Lauwerysen said "...The construction sector has been struggling a little bit in Myanmar. We've seen that a lot of foreign investors, also I think domestic companies have been facing some difficulties.... To attract investors, a number of things that need to be address. Infrastructure is a big problem. The cost of transportation is a big problem. And also the insufficient supply of energy. So these are two areas that I think need to be address a priority.”

Co-Chair, EuroCham Construction & Infrastructure Advocacy Group, Sandar Aung said “There are many things to be addressed for the infrastructure development in the country. We know that the government has many plans and projects for it. But one thing to address is how we can easily access to the funding. I think public-private-partnership (PPP) is one of the most effective ways. There are many issues to be addressed including rules and regulations and compliances. As an advocacy group, we promote and attract European companies to invest in Myanmar. We also would like to assist government officials and private sector with practices of Europe especially for construction and infrastructure.” 

The stake holders, officials from the concerned departments, private sector, experts and entrepreneurs from both local and international companies attended the forum.

(Myanmar International TV Channel: https://www.myanmaritv.com/news/efforts-development-eurocham-construction-forum )

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