Thai developer Amata Corp. has announced plans to invest USD 1 billion in an industrial complex in Yangon. Amata recently signed a land lease agreement and joint venture agreement with the Myanmar Ministry of Construction in the country’s capital of Nay Pyi Taw, securing a 70-year lease for 800 hectares of land on the outskirts of the city. The so-named “Yangon Amata Smart and Eco City” will include manufacturing facilities, housing and a 600 megawatt power plant.

“Myanmar is a gateway to the Indian Ocean for the GMS (Greater Mekong Sub-region). That is why we’ve chosen Myanmar,” Amata CEO Vikrom Kromadit told the Nikkei Asian Review. He added that after the initial investment round of USD 1 billion, the company will likely invest up to USD 3.7 billion in the project in the long term.

In the last few years, Myanmar has deepened its economic relationship with its eastern neighbor in the form of trade agreements and financing for infrastructure projects. These include a new highway connecting the Dawei Special Economic Zone with the Thai border and a second “Friendship Bridge” linking the border town of Myawaddy with its Thai counterpart, Mae Sot. Thai companies, too, have made several high profile investments in Myanmar. In a recent example, Thailand’s KBank announced plans to purchase a 35 percent stake in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Farmers Development Bank. In 2019, the Myanmar Investment Commission authorized USD 1.3 billion in foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, according to data obtained by the Nikkei Asian Review. That is a 22 percent increase from the previous year.