Myanmar's junta approves US$2.8 billion investment, including gas power plant
10 May, 2021
Myanmar's military rulers have approved new investment in projects worth practically US$2.8 billion, including a liquefied gas (LNG) power plant that will cost US$2.5 billion, the country's investment body said.
Approvals for 15 projects received on Friday (May 9) by the Myanmar Investment Commission, according to a statement on the website of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.
The announcement includes a lot of Myanmar's economy paralysed by protests and strikes since the army seized power on Feb 1. International credit rating agency Fitch Solutions has forecast the economy will contract by 20 % this year.
As well as the plant to create power for local needs, other projects approved included for livestock, manufacturing and services sectors, the statement said.
It did not give details of the firms behind the projects or which countries they are from. The largest investors in Myanmar in recent years have already been China, Singapore and Thailand although much of the investment from Singapore has been channelled from elsewhere.
Most of Myanmar's energy is currently produced from hydroelectric projects, but LNG has been viewed as increasingly very important to a country whose economy had boomed throughout a decade of democratic reforms, resulting in erratic electricity supplies.
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