Myanmar real estate news

Yangon government surveys industrial land speculation


Myanmar real estate news Yangon Region government is taking a fresh stab at dampening land speculation in the city’s industrial zones in the hope of freeing up thousands of vacant plots to be developed into factories.

Roughly 40 percent of land in Yangon’s 29 industrial parks is idle, held by speculators who are betting that the value will continue to rise, real estate agents said. Their grip on supply has pushed land prices beyond the reach of those who really want to build factories.

The previous government tried to take on the problem in 2014 by asking all landowners to submit detailed business development plans, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

U Tint Lwin, Yangon parliament MP for Pazundaung township, said last week during a parliamentary meeting that many problems still exist including vacant land, land speculation, and rent and resale.

He said the former government had inspected the industrial zones and tried to control the problem, and asked whether the current administration would pursue new solutions.

“The former government told industrial land owners to present their project plans within 60 days or risk confiscation of their property. But then the election came around and the former government did not handle the problem effectively, so this government needs to try again,” he said.

In November 2014, the former government compiled a list of land plots in 29 industrial zones and found that 4418 sites were vacant, while 1299 housed empty warehouses but no industries.

“The inspection deadline was December 2014 and according to the chair of Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone [the largest in Yangon Region] only 20pc of idle land owners came forward to present project plans,” he said. Others called for more time and ultimately the government did not penalise anyone.

Industrial land contracts between the government and buyers state that the owners must start to build factories within three months, said U Tint Lwin.

“This does not happen in reality, which impacts genuine factory owners and the land market as a whole,” he said.

A newly formed regional government inspection team conducted field studies in nine industrial zones between May 12 and May 24, said Daw Nilar Kyaw, regional minister for industry, electricity and transportation.

“We will continue to try and control industrial zones where land is being held vacant. After the government took power, it formed an inspection team to look at the problem in more detail and compile more detailed data,” she said.

The team includes representatives from the Yangon Region government, Yangon City Development Committee, the military-run General Administration Department, the Department of Industrial Inspection, the Department of Urban and Housing Development, and the Industrial Planning Committee.

The team will split up into four to inspect all 29 industrial zones before submitting its findings to the government for review, said Daw Nilar Kyaw.



Quoted from mmtimes.