Footwear zone coming to Twante to drive local production
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Phyo/Pearl (NP News) - February 20
A footwear industry cluster will be established in Twante Township, Yangon Region, according to inquiries from footwear entrepreneurs contacted by The Statesman.
Following a request to the government to provide an industrial quarter for footwear manufacturers who are facing difficulties in finding locations, they have received land plots in Twante. However, due to the difficulty in transportation, a further request has been made to provide suitable land in four Dagon Myothit townships and North Okkalapa. Recently, the entrepreneurs have decided to develop the cluster only in Dala because the connectivity issue has been settled since the opening of new Dala Bridge, which is the Korea-Myanmar Friendship Bridge connecting Yangon and Dala.
“In Twante, we received land plots for 122 people to build a footwear industry quarter. Nine members of the central committee were given a plot of land of 40 x 60 feet each in Nyaung village, Dagon Seikkan Township. However, we have not received any land to build the office. We will have to apply for it to the new government. We have to take the plots in Twante. We don’t know the exact location yet. We will have to meet with the head of the land department. We will have to negotiate how many acres we will get and how to deposit the money,” he said.
It was also reported that further discussions will be held regarding the land location, its size in acres, and the amount to be paid for its acquisition in Twante Township.
Once the footwear industry cluster has been implemented, it will create local jobs and enable more production to meet domestic demand.
“Once the bridge is completed, it will be convenient to go there. We refused the plan before. Now, the areas are connected with a road, and it will be developed further. We have been trying to make this small industrial quarter for five years, and now we have achieved it and will discuss in detail how to continue. We will also have to build roads, lights, and other things in that area. We will have to build access roads to import raw materials and to export finished goods. Entrepreneurs will develop further and will be able to export more modern footwears,” he said.
Currently, there are around 40,000 footwear entrepreneurs in the country, including home-based sole traders, and the domestic demand for footwears is at least 40 million, but local production can fulfill only 25 percent of this. –