Asia

Myanmar’s growth as a heavylift centre

Bangkok: Patrick Dick, founder of Thai-based project specialist, The Freight Co, is the focus on our sister site Maritime CEO today. As well as his own company he founded the Global Project Logistics Network (GPLN) in 2004 as a platform for SMEs to compete against multinationals. Since then GPLN has grown and now boasts around 250 member offices around the world.

When asked about particular hotspots for work Dick ws quick to talk up Myanmar, a country that is opening up but is still tricky to get transport solutions concluded.

“Lots of people were going there with the expectation that roads there are paved in gold. The first that these people found out is that the roads were paved by the British more than 60 years ago and that they have never been maintained since then,” Dick recalled.

“The country offers huge potential but not for all,” he said. Business with the best potential in Myanmar is oil and gas as well as mining, he reckoned because they hardly depend on an existing infrastructure.

“Oil offshore drilling in particular and mining companies are used to setting up their own independent infrastructure,” he explained. “Other typical manufacturing businesses will take time as they absolutely need a guaranteed power supply, a decent working logistics infrastructure, etc.”

The biggest problem is the power supply. Only the part from Yangon to Mandalay and the central area in between are connected to the power grid.

“While there is huge potential to invest in the power grid and abundant resources, the real interest of power developers is to sell the power production to the neighbouring countries,” the freight forwarder explained.

Nevertheless, despite the difficulties involved Dick is adamant that for the heavy transport industry this country has plenty to offer in the years to come. The Freight Co has been invited to bid for four logistics deals in Myanmar at the moment.
Southeast Asia is an area of “mixed fortunes”, Dick said. “While Indonesia has been and is still booming, Vietnam on the other hand is going rather slow. Our members in Indonesia are confident that the boom will last whereas the outlook for a quick change in fortunes for Vietnam does not look too good. The Philippines has also been doing quite well since the new government took office,” Dick said.

Thailand, which in part lacked investor confidence due to political infighting and the large flooding, has slowly rebounded. Major investments were made particularly in the energy sector. The outlook for more is good, Dick maintained.  [10/07/13]
 

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