Infrastructure development lies at the core of economic growth, which in turn leads to investment, job creation and ultimately poverty reduction. During Phase 1 of the New Yangon City development, our focus will be on building basic infrastructure.

This week is an exciting week for NYDC. We officially embarked on the first stage of the NYDC Challenge with the signing of a framework agreement with a leading global infrastructure company

There have been numerous questions and comments on social media and the news media questioning why the Yangon Regional Government is going into business by setting up a wholly-owned company

Myanmar is facing the onset of the approaching monsoon season with the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology warning of potential storms as the monsoon season nears. Whenever the rainy season hits upon us, we would hear constant laments on the conditions of our city’s drainage system.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) publishes an annual Global Liveability Ranking which ranks 140 cities for their urban quality of life. The cities are scored based on five categories — stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure. Our hope is that one day Yangon will be ranked among the Top Ten cities.
Yangon is the economic capital and heart of our nation, with a rich history dating back to the early 11th century. Today, the city’s population of 7 million people contributes 19.3 trillion kyats to the economy, more than a quarter of Myanmar’s GDP.

The past weeks have been hectic as we approach the final stage of negotiations with China Communications Construction Company Ltd., (CCCC) for the preparation of the Pre-Project Documents (PPD). These documents will pave the way for the first stage of the NYDC Challenge. The details of the PPD would be announced soon and it includes the following scope of works:

There has been a lot of press reports and comments on social media questioning the validity of NYDC. Some have questioned whether NYDC is a properly approved entity, whether budget has been approved, or if funds are used appropriately.
As the Chief Executive of this company, it is not my intention to get involved in politics. My job is to create two million jobs, and the assignment is to bring Foreign Direct Investment

Over the weekend, NYDC organised a special Roundtable meeting with members of the Myanmar Engineering Council, Myanmar Engineering Society, Myanmar Architect Council, the Association of Myanmar Architects and various other learned stakeholders at the function hall of the MES. Our Planning and Development Head Ms. Alicia Aye Aye Khine explained the salient points of the New Yangon City Socio-Economic Master Plan (SEMP) subsequent to which I chaired the Questions & Answers Session.

We have been quiet, but that doesn’t mean we have not been busy. August has been a hectic month as we plough through documents and conduct various negotiations and discussions.

Here I’m happy to update you on a few key things.

Planning a city from scratch is a bit like having a clean sheet of paper to draw on – it could be daunting, while at the same time, exhilarating. It has been done before, all over the world. We see success stories such as Singapore; with the city-state today reaping the fruits of its master planning. Diligently laid out in the 1960s, good planning transformed the newly-independent country where nearly three out of four people lived in slums, to what we see today, a thriving, modern city. Poor city planning or the lack of planning, on the other hand, would sow the seeds of urban ills.