Labourers work on a production line at the Myanmar Asia Optical International Company Ltd’s lens factory in Mingaladon township.

MYANMAR’S first lens and optical factory will open in the first week of July. The owner of the factory, Myanmar Asia Optical International Company Ltd, claims it will be capable of providing lens and optical apparatus to the majority of the world market.

The Hong Kong-based parent company, Asia Optical International Ltd, say they already provide half the worlds lenses and optical equipment.

“We are operating two lens factories in China and one in Philippines. Now, the company will invest in Myanmar for the first time, mainly because… labour wages are reasonable (in Myanmar) compared with other countries,” said U Win Naing, from the General Affairs Department of the Myanmar company.

He told Myanmar Times that total investment is about US$12 million and the factory, situated at Mingaladon Industrial Zone in Yangon, will employ about 2000 people.

“We will select Myanmar workers who understand the Chinese language to attend the intensive training course in the factories owned by Asia Optical International Ltd in China,” he said.

The company will manufacture al least 300 different kinds of optical components including cameras, riflescope laser, DVD, office machines, laser range finders and other lens products for export to America and Japan. Production is expected to be about twelve million lenses annually.

“We are a sub factory and will manufacture lens and optical apparatus ordered by the main factory from China. Our major customers are Japanese companies such as Sony, Pioneer, Kodak, Nikon, Panasonic, Konica and Olympus,” he said.

Raw materials will be imported from Japan, China and Thailand.

U Win Naing told Myanmar Times that in the future, the company will manufacture whole digital camera sets.