Myanmar opening spurs shipping

[TOKYO] Coca-Cola Co and Suzuki Motor Corp are among companies pushing demand for transportation of machinery to Myanmar to bottle drinks and make trucks, after the country's five decades of isolation during military rule.

Coca-Cola, which opened a bottling plant in Myanmar last year, plans to invest US$200 million over five years while Suzuki restarted production of trucks last year after leaving the market in 2010. Asahi Group Holdings Ltd, Japan's biggest beermaker, said this month it's forming a venture to start operations there this year.

Because much of the machinery is too big to fit in regular containers, Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd and other shippers are increasingly using vessels that can handle oversized cargo. Myanmar is importing basic materials to improve infrastructure after the US, Europe and Japan eased sanctions following elections in 2012 in which the country's leading dissident, Aung San Suu Kyi, a political prisoner for 15 years, was elected to Parliament.