Govt to move "decisively" on surging land prices, deputy minister says
It is time to decisively deal with the skyrocketing rental fees in the industrial zones that circle Yangon, Thein Aung, deputy minister for industry, told Parliament.
“Land prices in Yangon are very high ... it is time to decisively handle this problem,” he said, adding that unreasonably high rents in some industrial zones entrepreneurs were damaging the businesses operating in them. “The government knows this,” he said, adding that plots are being passed on to new owners informally – without taxes being paid.
Thein Aung said, however, that the problem had to be tackled “gently”. Investigations into ownership of land, and rentals, are underway and prices will be controlled by implementing taxes on sales of land, the deputy minister added.
“Skyrocketing land prices in the industrial zones are temporary,” he said.
He was replying to a question from Upper House MP Myat Nyana So, who asked whether there was a plan to control surging land prices in industrial zones.
The prices are a deterrent to foreign investment, the MP said.
The Internal Revenue Department is stepping up efforts to enforce tax collection on property sales and this will cause prices to fall soon, Thein Aung said.
There are 24 industrial zones in Yangon Region, but about one-quarter – 2,339 of 10,300 – of the land plots remain vacant, official figures show.
Besides attempting to rein in land prices at industrial zones in Yangon, the government is aiming to make industrial land in other regions and states available at a fair price for local and foreign investors, the deputy minister said.
Myat Nyana Soe was dissatisfied with Thein Aung’s response, noting that Myanmar has some of the highest land prices in the world.
“We assume the government will take decisive action on this matter as the deputy minister said,” the MP said, before questioning what was meant by a “gentle” approach the land-use strategy that would be used outside Yangon Region.
“It is time to bring down the land prices in Yangon Region. The Union government alone can this, so I suggest authorities step more steps to tackle this issue,” Myat Nyana Soe added.
The MP said blamed speculators for the problem, saying they were hanging on to plots of land and driving up prices. “Opportunists have the advantage in the land market and this can slow the country’s development and growth. Land prices must come down. This issue has to be tackled decisively,” Myat added.
“The deputy minister agreed that what I said is true. Although it will be difficult for the government to deal with this problem if it does so the government led by President Thein Sein will become a model for clean government,” the MP said.
