Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Suzuki to invest in Myanmar

Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Suzuki have expressed their interest in pouring investment into Myanmar after the country enacts the foreign investment law.

Under consultation with Myanmar Investment Commission, they showed the interest in forming joint ventures with top-notch Myanmar companies for such investment.

"Top Japanese car companies visited Myanmar and had discussions," said U Kyaw Dun, advisor of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. "They are waiting until the Myanmar Foreign Investment Law is enacted. More foreign business will be activated when the law is enacted. Investment in the manufacturing and industrial sectors are more likely to be carried out through joint ventures. They are interested to form joint ventures with government agencies on mining and energy."

Since the beginning of this year, Japanese car companies have dispatched representatives to Myanmar and had discussions with the Myanma Investment Commission and had discussions. This was followed up by talks in Japan, by Myanmar entrepreneurs who accompanied the president during the visit to Japan.

Myanmar has so far welcomed foreign investment only to the natural resources sector. The country has been in focus of investors worldwide, after the US, the European Union and Canada lifted or suspended economic sanctions. However, actual discussions on investment remained rare until recently. Most of investors showing concrete interest in investing in the country are from Japan, South Korea, China and Thailand.

Ahead of their investment, Toyota, Honda and Nissan have opened service centrs in Yangon, though they are functioning just for the name sake. Among them, Suzuki showed the most progress, with a joint venture with SPA established in 1997. The joint venture has manufactured 10,000 motorcycles and 6,000 motor vehicles.

It was reported that Honda and Myanmar Diamond Star, and Suzuki and Myanmar IGE Company are teaming up for joint business. It was also rumoured that SPA Motors has won the contract to be Nissan’s sole distributor.

Kanbawza Bank in Myanmar is authorised by Japan’s SMBC Bank to handle financial transactions for car companies that do business with SMBC Bank, said the Myanmar bank’s Vice-Chairman U Than Lwin.