Ball Corp becomes first US firm to enter Thilawa

Ball Corp becomes first US firm to enter Thilawa

By Tim McLaughlin   |   Saturday, 07 June 2014

A United States beverage container producer and a Japanese auto parts manufacturer today became the first companies to sign contracts to invest in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, with both agreeing to lease land to build factories in the SEZ.

Colorado-based aluminum can producer Ball Corporation had said in May that it would break ground on a one-line plant outside Yangon, but had not announced the location until a signing ceremony with the Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd on June 6.

 The investment in the factory will be about US$40 million, a spokesperson for the company told The Myanmar Times. Ball Corporation chief financial officer Scott Morisson said the facility would employee around 150 skilled labourers when fully operational.

The other investor is Koyo Radiator Company, which produces car parts.

The factories are part of the Class A development at Thilawa, which covers about 400 hectares out of a total of 2400. Class A is being developed over three stages.

The signings mark an important first step for the development of the Japan-backed SEZ, which the government hopes will be a major draw for international companies and turn the now-rural area into a shipping and manufacturing hub.

MJTD chairman U Thein Han said that he believed the signings would boost confidence in the Thilawa development and "pave the way" for other overseas investors.

"Today's very first signing of contracts by companies from Japan and US will further encourage many more companies around the world to start business in Myanmar, especially in your promising Thilawa SEZ," said Tateshi Higuchi, Japan's ambassador to Myanmar, who attended the ceremony along with his US counterpart Derek Mitchell.  

Ball Corp's facility will produce aluminimium containers for Coca-Cola Pinya Beverages, which opened a bottling factory in June of last year, as well as other local and international beverage producers.

The SEZ is a joint venture between a group of Myanmar and Japanese companies. The Myanmar companies are Thilawa SEZ Management Committee and the Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Co Ltd (MTSH).

The Japanese companies involved are MMS Thilawa Development Co Ltd, a consortium comprised of Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Sumitomo Corporations, as well as the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/06/07/ball-corp-becomes-first-us-firm-to-enter-thilawa/