As briefly reported in our highlights last week, a Chinese company and several Myanmar partners will invest USD 30 billion in an industrial zone contained within the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone on Myanmar’s west coast.

Speaking to parliament, Deputy commerce minister U Aung Htoo said China’s CITIC Consortium will hold a 51 percent stake in the project, which will include trade and production infrastructure, as well as high-end housing, on a site of around 3600 acres. The first phase will cost around USD 1.3 billion, U Aung Htoo said. 

The complex and a planned deep sea port will be the primary features of the Chinese-backed Kyaukphyu SEZ, of which CITIC Consortium will hold 70 percent share overall.  Kyaukphyu was a key topic of discussion during Chinese head-of-state Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar. Eventually, it could grant China greater access to the oil and gas reserves in the Indian Ocean and be a key piece of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. That initiative calls for huge infrastructure projects in Myanmar’s north, including a new railway linking Mandalay with the Chinese border and new industrial zones. The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, in turn, is a key piece of China’s Belt and Road initiative.