"Thai industrial estate developer Amata Corp. plans to build an industrial complex with an investment of $1 billion in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city. The complex will provide important industrial infrastructure in a nation with few global-standard industrial zones suitable for foreign companies. Amata recently signed a land lease agreement and joint venture agreement with the Myanmar Ministry of Construction in the country's capital of Naypyitaw, securing the right to use 800 hectares of land in the northeastern part of Yangon for 70 years. Amata's investment will include construction of 600 megawatt power plant. "Myanmar is a gateway to the Indian Ocean for the GMS (Greater Mekong Sub-region). That is why we've chosen Myanmar," Vikrom Kromadit, chairman and CEO of Amata, said during an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review after a ceremony to mark the signing. Amata estimates that tenant companies' long-term investments in the new industrial zone will eventually reach $3.7 billion. As a GMS country along with Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and China, Myanmar once drew strong attention from foreign companies as a frontier market with room for substantial economic growth, but the presence of manufacturers there has not increased as sharply as expected..."