The Matarbari power plant construction project includes the construction of a 1200㎿ (600㎿ x 2ea) coal-fired thermal power plant on Matarbari Island, Chittagong, approximately 280km southeast of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Site improvement and port construction are also part of the project, expected to last 7 years. POSCO E&C invested a total of USD 4.5 billion in this project which is the largest coal-fired thermal power generation project in Southwest Asia. POSCO E&C is in charge of civil engineering for the power plant worth USD 840 million and the construction of the coal processing facilities and subsidiary facilities.

The Bangladeshi government and the Japanese government have been working together on this project as a means to speed up the low electrification rate of Bangladesh. The Sumitomo Corporation Consortium, which has been cooperating with POSCO E&C, won the contract last month from the project owner Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited.

POSCO E&C also recently won the contract to build the Yangon Waterworks Improvement Project in Myanmar worth USD 53 million. POSCO E&C selected Myanmar as one of its 5 strategic countries, and built the Yangon Hotel, the tallest landmark building in Myanmar. It is now accelerating its efforts to make inroads into the Myanmar construction market. Both projects are funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

POSCO E&C President Chan-geon Han said, “We won this contract thanks to our world-class EPC technology and expertise, which has been recognized in the Central and South American energy plant markets. This contract is all the more meaningful because we won it at a time of declining overseas business due to a dip in international oil prices.”

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Yangon Hotel has a five-star rating and is near Inya Lake in Yangon, the economic heart of Myanmar. Its total area is 104,123㎡, which includes a 15-story luxury hotel (343 rooms), and a 29-story residence hotel (315 rooms). Also on the grounds are various facilities including a convention center, restaurants and a swimming pool.

POSCO Daewoo supervised the whole process from bidding to development and operations. It also manages overall hotel business operations as the project supervisor, and Lotte Hotel is in charge of hotel management under the name “Lotte Hotel Yangon.”

POSCO Daewoo acquired the right to use the land for the hotel site from the Myanmar government back in 2012. Then in 2014, POSCO Daewoo established a consortium with POSCO E&C as the constructor, Lotte Hotel as the hotel operator, Mirae Asset Daewoo as the investor and a local partner. Together they founded a local operating corporation called Daewoo Amara and carried out operations for the hotel under its name.

POSCO Daewoo is the first foreign private company to acquire a 70-year land usage rights from the Myanmar government. This was possible due to POSCO Daewoo’s long history of doing of doing business in Myanmar since the 1980s and the solid business network it has obtained over time.

Having successfully completed the Yangon Hotel, which will become the de facto landmark of Yangon, POSCO Daewoo is said to have proven its competence as a hotel business developer with the technology and expertise of operating hotel businesses in various countries such as China and Bulgaria, as well as Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam.

POSCO Daewoo President Young-sang Kim said, “The Myanmar hotel was successfully completed thanks to the outstanding business competency of POSCO Daewoo, which was recognized by Myanmar. We will continue to expand our scope of business and transform the company into a comprehensive global firm by adding new businesses such as strategic real estate development to our existing business portfolio which includes overseas trading and resources development.”

To add, POSCO Daewoo is operating a gas field in Myanmar, the largest overseas resource development business run by a private domestic company. It recently invested in a rice processing complex to actively make inroads into the food business and is expanding its business in Myanmar with other projects such as the Shwe Taung 70㎹ Gas-fired Combined Cycle Power Plant construction project.

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