Burmese Chinese tycoon supports Yangon's plan to build an industrial zone
Burmese tycoon Serge Pun has backed plans to develop a new industrial zone in Yangon, despite the low investor sentiment caused by the outbreak of the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, and large-scale projects supported by Beijing in Asia Increasingly arouse people's vigilance. The industrial zone will be built by the Chinese, with a planned investment of 1.5 billion US dollars.
Pan Jize said that China Communications Construction Co., Ltd. (CCCC, referred to as China Communications Construction) completed the paperwork for this plan before the end of 2018, including the financing plan. He said that this plan is equivalent to Shenzhen in Myanmar. As a state-owned enterprise, China Communications Construction is one of the builders of a controversial port project in Sri Lanka.
Pan Jize said: "The first phase of investment will be in place within the next 60 days." Pan Jize serves as the chairman of two Singapore-listed companies focused on the Myanmar market: Yoma Strategic Holdings and Memories Group.
Pan Jize said this as the chief executive officer of Yangon New City Development Co, a company owned by the Yangon city government, who held the position for free.
The project plans to build a new industrial zone in the western region of the Yangon River. The purpose is to attract companies from China and other regions that want to relocate because of rising costs and the Sino-US trade war. The project involves paving roads, building bridges and other infrastructure.
Pan Jize said that the project aims to create 2 million job opportunities, and the goal is to complete the first phase of construction in 2020.
"In fact, the need for this kind of stuff is more timely than at any time in the past 20 years." Pan Jize said, "With or without a trade war, migration has already begun: companies need to look for a supply of sufficient labor at affordable prices. The place."
Although CCCC has the first opportunity to undertake this project, its proposal will have to go through the "Swiss Challenge" process, which means that other companies will be invited to participate in bidding and seek solutions to defeat CCCC.
However, Pan Jize was questioned because China Communications Construction made a bid without holding a bid.
Previously, after the Sri Lankan government was unable to repay its debts, control of the Hambantota port was transferred to a Chinese state-owned company last year, and China Communications Construction was one of the port’s contractors. This incident has raised concerns about the "debt trap" in Asia. Some critics believe that many projects of the "Belt and Road" initiative imply this debt trap.
However, Pan Jize said: “I take this project calmly. It is completely reasonable in terms of social and economic value.” He said that in Sri Lanka, the problem lies with the former president and current prime minister Mahinda Rajapak. Mahinda Rajapaksa (Mahinda Rajapaksa) decided to build a port in his hometown and constituency, "despite the opposition of China Communications Construction, saying that this is not a suitable place to build a port." Hambantota Port has been difficult to attract ships to the port.
Recently, the Myanmar government signed a long negotiated contract to build a port in Kyaukpyu, a city in western Myanmar. Because of concerns about the burden of excessive debt, Myanmar tried to drastically reduce the cost of the project. The project will be built by a consortium headed by Citic Group.
However, Pan Jize said: “You can borrow money to build something that is not feasible, and you will fall into the debt trap.” In this joint venture project in Yangon, China holds 75% of the equity, Myanmar holds 25% of the equity, and China Communications Construction provides equity capital, while Yangon City uses land as a share. Pan Jize said: "The claim that a Chinese company will control a large part of our city is simply untenable."
After the suppression of the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State in Myanmar in 2017, some investors' enthusiasm for Myanmar has begun to cool. The Rohingya crisis has led the United Nations (UN) to call for a genocide investigation in Myanmar, and has led the European Union (EU) to consider reassessing whether to continue to provide duty-free concessions for imports from Myanmar.
According to data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in the six months to the end of September 2018, foreign direct investment attracted by Myanmar fell by more than half from the US$4.1 billion in the same period of the previous year to US$1.8 billion. Myanmar's inbound tourism has also become deserted.
Pan Jize admitted that the global bear market and the crisis in Rakhine State have caused a "double blow" to his company. However, he said that Asian investors-Myanmar has more Asian investors than Western investors-are better at separating the problems in Rakhine State from the overall situation in Myanmar. Pan Jize said: "The West's perspective on Myanmar is very different from the East's perspective."
Pan Jize, 65, is of Chinese descent and speaks Mandarin. He has experienced political turmoil in two countries. After Ne Win launched a coup to establish a socialist regime, Pan Jize left Myanmar with his family for China in 1965. In China, Pan Jize suffered the Cultural Revolution and was sent to a "re-education" camp for a period of time. In 1973, he moved to Hong Kong.
After returning to his home country of Myanmar in 1991, Pan Jize invested in real estate, tourism, retail, finance and automobile industries, and represented brands such as Volkswagen and KFC. Pan Jize’s company in Myanmar, First Myanmar Investments, is involved in real estate and healthcare. It also runs Yoma Bank, one of Myanmar’s largest banks, and recently started operating an airline.
In a country known for corruption, Pan Jize managed to avoid the stigma of corruption. In the Myanmar Business Transparency Rankings recently compiled by the “Myanmar Business Responsibility Center” (MCRB), a private group that promotes corporate ethics, the No. 1 Myanmar Investment Company and Serge Pun & Associates, which hold Pan Jize’s private business interests, divided Ranked first and third.
Pan Jize did not let his company participate in the bidding for the Yangon New Town Development Company's contract, but he did not rule out that they might participate in the project as a supplier in the future. Pan Jize believes that he did not do this for personal gain, but to do something for Myanmar, and also to leave something behind for himself. People familiar with Pan Jize recognized this.
"This is an opportunity for him to give back to the country and the community," said Andrew Rickards, former CEO of Yoma Strategy. "He has done quite well in this regard."