SINGAPORE - Yoma Strategic Holdings on Wednesday (Nov 29) announced the signing of an agreement with two global construction companies to build its integrated real estate development Yoma Central, and The Peninsula Yangon, the former headquarters of the Burma Railway Company which will be restored into a luxury hotel.

Both projects sit on an about 10-acre (four hectares) site in downtown Yangon. The group said that they are considered one of the most ambitious building developments in Yangon's modern time.

The combined contract value of the two projects is over US$400 million, and the main works contracts will include civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and heritage works.

For the Yoma Central project, the building contractor is BTJV Myanmar Company, which is a joint venture between Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of global firm Bouygues Construction, and Japanese builder Taisei Corporation.

The Peninsula Yangon project will be built by BYMA, a joint venture between Dragages Singapore and Yoma.

Yoma said that construction work has already begun, including the demolition of what used to stand in the place of Yoma Central, test piling, storm drain diversion and the construction of a culvert under the Bogyoke Aung San Road.

Likewise, conservation works including the dismantling, cataloguing and storing of all windows, doors, balconies, cast iron and other architectural items have been completed, and these items will be reused in accordance with the conservation management plan for the former headquarters of the Burma Railway Company.

Facade strengthening and underpinning works are being undertaken to ensure that the building is conserved and refurbished to international standards, it said.