In a statement in August designed to allay fears that
The CIA estimates that by the end of 2005,
Despite strong statistical evidence that the move to Naypyidaw is pushing
The relocation project has had some positive economic impact. Local companies have benefited from the influx of new business, notwithstanding their allegations of the government’s confiscation of land. New shops that offer mostly construction materials and furniture have sprung up in old Pyinmana, which is not subject to the strict building and trading regulations applied in Naypyidaw.
Big construction companies—Asia World Company, Htoo Trading, Eden Group, Max Myanmar and Shwe Thanlwin—have also seen significant revenues, but the government’s reported inability to pay for services has required companies to generate income from numerous concessions offered in the place of cash.
These companies were all given the opportunity to build hotels in Naypyidaw, while the government simultaneously prohibited smaller operations in old Pyinmana from accepting foreign guests, thereby denying them the ability to earn foreign currency.
Max Myanmar has made the most of government concessions. It’s Royal Kumudra hotel, located in Naypyidaw’s new guest accommodation zone along an unfinished stretch of two-lane highway, is the busiest of the city’s new hotels—and one of the most expensive, charging $144 per night for its top-tier executive villas.
The hotel often runs at full capacity—this was the case in August, as it hosted teams of smartly dressed Asian businesspeople in town for high-level meetings with ministry officials.
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