The Myanmar Investment Commission approved a proposal by resources conglomerate Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co (GDZR) to build an oil refinery with annual capacity of 5 million tons near the Tavoy Special Economic Zone, domestic news portal cankaoxiaoxi.com reported on Monday.
Under the agreement, which was signed on March 29, the Ministry of Energy of Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd and Yangon Engineering Group Co will take part in this project, according to a statement on GDZR's website.
The refinery, with projected investment of $3 billion, is scheduled to become operational in 2019, cankaoxiaoxi.com said.
Most of the refinery's output will be used in Myanmar to replace products that are now imported, according to cankaoxiaoxi.com.
The economic zone, 300 kilometers west of Bangkok, is intended to be a production and logistics hub in Southeast Asia. In December 2015, Japan, Myanmar and Thailand held a conference at which Japan decided to invest in the Special Purpose Venture that guided the development of the zone, according to domestic news portal ce.cn, which in turn cited the Kyodo News Agency.
GDZR was founded in 2002 in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province.
It specializes in the trade and investment of energy and natural resources, as well as metals, coal and chemical products.
GDZR entered Myanmar via trade transactions in 2009.
The plant, which is being developed under the build, operate and transfer model, can "support the economic development of Myanmar," according to cankaoxiaoxi.com.
