Text of report in English by Win Kyaw Oo, carried by Burmese newspaper The Myanmar Times website on 20 March

With Pyinmana enjoying a real estate boom as government ministries settle into the new administrative capital, many property developers are taking a more cautious approach to major projects in Yangon [Rangoon].

U Than Tin Aung, an architect with more than 20 years of experience in urban planning and development, said most developers and business owners in Yangon have adopted a wait-and-see attitude before expanding into other areas.

“Many developers are looking for ways to stimulate Yangon’s property market rather than move into more remote areas like Pyinmana, where infrastructure is still limited,” he said. “Even after the government’s move, few businesses are likely to leave Yangon or expand their businesses to Pyinmana.”

He said Yangon remains the most attractive place in Myanmar for investment, as the financial returns will be greater than anywhere else in the country.

U Than Tin Aung said the government’s move to Pyinmana was similar to the Malaysian government’s shift from the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, which was founded in 1995 specifically to serve as the country’s new administrative centre.

“Putrajaya is still under development to turn it into an integrated city, but it has had no negative impact on commercial activities in Kuala Lumpur,” he said. Meanwhile, developers are still debating the effects of the move to Pyinmana on Yangon’s property market.

U Than Tin Aung said development in the new administrative capital has kept the demand for, and therefore the price of, construction materials high.

“In such a scenario, the bargaining power of Yangon developers is impaired because construction costs are so high,” he said. “Some developers are forced to sell property quickly at lower prices just to make up for construction costs.”

However, architect U Aung Myint, the managing director of Amenity Design Group, said activity in Pyinmana has had little impact on the Yangon property market.

His company is involved in large, ongoing development projects in Yangon’s downtown area.

“The property market in Yangon is so well established that it will resist the effects of the move,” he said.

“Developers can continue working and relying on the purchasing powers of city dwellers.”

U Than Tin Aung said developers should come up with practical plans to turn Yangon into a more developed commercial hub and submit them to government officials, many of whom have a sound knowledge of urban development in other countries. He cited as an example the goodwill visit by Prime Minister General Soe Win to China last month, during which he toured economic centres such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangzhou province, as reported in state-run media.

“These cities underwent rapid development in a short time because Chinese authorities facilitated growth in a way that was attractive to investors,” U Than Tin Aung said.

Development in Pyinmana was spurred by urban design competitions sponsored by the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development under the Ministry of Construction in late 2003 and early 2004, he said.

The approved design included a city hall, convention centre, shopping malls, radio and TV broadcast complex, general hospital, sports stadium and swimming pool.

One retired professor from the Yangon Institute of Economics said he welcomed the development of Pyinmana because it would contribute to the economic growth of the entire country.

“Without such growth, the financial sector would face an increased rate of inflation,” he said.

The retired professor also said developers need not look to other countries like Malaysia to see that the property market in Yangon is not threatened by the government’s move to Pyinmana.

“Look at the towns of Sagaing and Monywa in Sagaing Division,” he said. “The division’s administration was based in Sagaing, but Monywa is more developed and more economically vibrant.”