“Our company, which received the highest mark, has been selected. We believe our company was selected because we consider the needs of Hpa-an residents, how useful it (the shopping mall) will be for them and make arrangements for selling products,” the company’s managing director U Tun Aung Shwe told KIC News on June 22.

'Zwekabin Plaza' is the temporary name given to the shopping mall and it will offer shops, playgrounds, cinema, restaurants, meeting hall, and offices. It will be built at a cost of Ks 11 billion kyats, according to UHM Company.

“You can say it’s BOT (build-operate-transfer) system since we have to lease the land but it’s not a real BOT. BOT means that the business owner has to manage everything and transfer it back to the government when the term is up. Now, we are going to transfer some areas to the government after the project is complete so you can say it’s BOT or a give and take system that is better than BOT,” said U Tun Aung Shwe.

Ten companies applied for the tender for the shopping mall when it was invited by the government last March and Chit Linn Myaing Group, Gamone Pwint, and UHM were initially selected on May 31.

The Karen State government announced UHM Company as the winner on June 21 and the company will provide Ks 500 million for regional development when it signs the contract with the state government.

The shopping mall will be built on 3.334 acres of land in the 9th Ward at the site of an old highway bus station and it will be completed within two years and two months.

U Than Naing, the state minister of planning, finance, and municipal affairs, said on May 31 that the government would select the company based on the criteria such as whether the company has brought benefits to the public, whether it has actually carried out its tasks, and whether it is well experienced in sale skills.

According to the State Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Municipal Affairs, shops, car workshops, and restaurants were opened in the old highway bus station but they have all been taken down in mid-2017 and compensations have been given to those who have suffered.

This will be the first shopping mall in the Karen State and the Karen State government will use the profits gained from the shopping mall for state development, according to government officials.

UMH Company has been in charge of Shwe Hpa-si housing project and the strand road construction project in Hpa-an and Ocean shopping centers, housing projects, and other prominent projects in Mawlamyine.