OREANDA-NEWS. A consortium made up of Mitsubishi Corporation, Marubeni Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation joined forces with Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holding Public Limited on January 11, 2014 to established Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd., ("MJTD"). MJTD has been developing the 396 hectare "Class A Area" of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Myanmar, which is scheduled to open in the middle of 2015.

The three companies, as Japanese marketing agents of MJTD, will start the sale of leasehold rights for the Class A Area (50 years + 25 years as optional) in stages from May 19, 2014. Any of the three companies may be contacted for details on these lots, such as the available lot size, rent and other conditions.

The Class A Area is located approximately 20 km southeast of the capital Yangon, and offers various incentives as a special economic zone. This is a key location, not only for export processing bases, but also for production bases targeting domestic demand. The three companies will provide high levels of infrastructure and utility services by applying the extensive know-how they have developed in the industrial park business in ASEAN countries. Attracting Japanese and other foreign investment to the Class A Area will also contribute to job creation and the economic development of Myanmar.

In addition, on April 23 this year, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a joint venture agreement for MJTD, making the development of Thilawa Class A the first public-private partnership business between Japan and Myanmar. The Japanese government has committed to infrastructure development around the Class A Area (such as power generation, port facilities, etc.) through yen loans, and JICA is already receiving support as the executing agency. The public and private sectors of Japan and Myanmar will further collaborate and develop the Class A Area through the participation of JICA.