MYANMAR - ABB announced this week that it has inaugurated its first new office in Yangon, Myanmar, after an absence of 20 years. Having a local presence in the country will allow the company to better serve local customers, improve service capabilities, and expand its activities, the company said.

The company said that the office will allow ABB to make its full portfolio of power and automation solutions available to customers in Myanmar, and will be the first step toward establishing a service organization in the country.

"ABB's technologies are ideally positioned to support Myanmar with its rapid economic growth by enhancing the power grid, raising industrial productivity and providing solutions for important infrastructure and sustainable transport developments. This move is fully in line with ABB's new 'next level' strategy, which is to expand into markets and geographies, where we are currently under-represented," said Frank Duggan, ABB's Head of Global Markets.

ABB said that Myanmar's gross domestic product has risen by an annual average of 7.3 percent since 2012, while this year, foreign direct investment is expected to grow 6.8% from $2.7 billion. Over 70 percent of Myanmar's people do not have access to reliable electricity.

The World Bank has committed to investing $1 billion to support the expansion of electricity generation, transmission and distribution over the next 15 years, while development partners of the Asian Development Bank estimate that $18 billion in energy investments would be required through to 2030 to fuel annual average economic growth of 7.5%

In addition to the new office, ABB said it has has signed a letter of intent with Yangon Technological University to donate demonstration units for its Power Systems laboratory. ABB will also recruit a number of local engineering graduates for its regional graduate trainee program. ABB has long recognized the essential role that engineering plays in the technical and economic progress of society.