A tender will be called early next year to renovate the Yangon Trade Centre, which has been closed since a 2005 bomb attack, according to Ministry of Commerce officials.
The ministry invited companies to restore the building last year, but scrapped the idea after receiving no suitable applications.
Six companies applied but were all rejected. “We found they were all out to get profit, rather than to promote trading, which is not the right idea,” the ministry’s adviser U Maung Aung said.
The six-storey building in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township has been left empty for many years. It was closed following a May 7, 2005 attack, during a Thai commodities trade fair.
Some 11 people died and 163 were injured in three attacks, which included the trade centre bombing as well as on two supermarkets, according to state media, the BBC reported in 2005.
The tender winner will be responsible for renovating the building, designing office space for trade-focused companies, organising trade fairs, and arranging for foreign companies to come and discuss trade opportunities.
The tender will be issued early next year, after officials have discussed it with the minister in Nay Pyi Taw, said U Maung Aung. “The project is pending, but we will have to rely on investors as we don’t have the budget to do it ourselves,” he said.
Source: Myanmar Times
