The Yangon Regional Government has recruited German consulting firm Roland Berger to assist with the bidding process for infrastructure for the massive New Yangon City development. Roland Berger will oversee a “Swiss challenge” bidding process in which third party firms will compete with China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC) for an infrastructure contract worth USD 800 million.

CCCC had been set to receive the contract, which calls for a new industrial zone, a bridge spanning the Yangon River and commercial and residential buildings, among other installations. However, in July, the regional government announced that it would allow competing bids. Speaking to the Irrawaddy, Yangon Region Minister for Planning and Finance U Ye Min Oo said that the German firm would oversee the entire Swiss challenge process from start to finish. Preparations could take around two months, he added.

New Yangon City will be a mixed-use, 20,000-acre development located on the western edge of Yangon. Unlike the initial plan, the project has been unbundled by the government and opened up some of its development to other firms. In July an unnamed senior official told the Irrawaddy that the new tender process was not due to transparency issues, but because of the sheer scope of the project. CCCC signed a USD 1.5 billion framework with the Yangon government in 2018.