Korean firm wins cable deal in Myanmar

This is the largest contract that LS C&S has so far received from Myanmar and accounts for half of the annual power-cable purchase of the ministry. The contract is expected to establish a bridgehead for LS C&S’s advance into the Myanmar power market, the company said in a statement.
“This contract is very meaningful in that we can pre-empt the Myanmar cable market, which is expected to grow quickly,” said Kim Seon-kook, president of the production group of LS C&S.
“We are also planning to capitalise on the stable technology of the Vietnamese subsidiary to reinforce our marketing for telecommunication cables as well as for power cables.”
Through the Vietnamese subsidiary, LS-Vina, LS C&S fiercely competed with Chinese, Indonesian and Myanmar cable makers for this contract. It attributed winning the bid to its technology as well as price competitiveness.
Demand for electric power is sharply increasing in Myanmar because of rapid economic growth, but the electrification rate is less than 30 per cent.
The Myanmar government is known to be following through with a plan launched in 2001 that will, through a total investment of more than $9 billion, bolster its transmission and distribution infrastructure in six stages through 2031. This is expected to double the cable-market value from $240 million in 2013 to $480 million in 2020.
LS C&S expects to boost its sales from 400 billion won (Bt12.5 billion) in 2014 to 480 billion won this year.
LS-Vina is now the No 1 cable manufacturer in Vietnam. It has recently been taking advantage of its price competitiveness and technology to expand exports not only to Asian countries but also the entire world including Europe and the Americas.