The industrial zone located along the Hpa-an to Hlaing Bwe Highway has also cause land prices in the nearby villages of Mae Baung, Taung Ka Lay and Htee Poe Klo to soar to triple what it was last year.

Before the industrial zone was established, a 60-80-square-foot-plot of land cost 10 million kyat, this year, the same land was sold this year for a price calculated by the square foot – villagers estimate a square-foot of this particular plot to be worth 1.5 million kyat.

Speaking to Karen News, a land sale agent from Mae Baung village confirmed that land prices are booming in the area.

“The price of land in the nearby industrial zones is seriously increasing. At first the price just increased gradually, but this year, 2013, the price has unbelievably risen.”

The agent said that not all villagers are aware of the rising land prices and many sold their lands in Taung Ka Lay village at low prices and that businessmen from outside the region had capitalized and bought the land at cheaper than current market prices.

A farmer from Mi Zan village whose land is in the industrial zones, told Karen News that many businessmen had approached him and offered him a high price for his farmlands, but the farmer refused to sell as he had already planted his rice paddy.

Business people have been buying land in the area to build factories in the Hpa-an industrial zone. These include a garment factory and a bicycle assembling plant to name some. The Hpa-an industrial zone was established in 2011 by the Karen State government. Local sources said that State Minister Saw Kyi Lin is now serving as the industrial zone’s chairman.