The ESIA study was conducted and reported in accordance with the requirements of the EIA Division; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) and the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) as well as guidance presented in the International Finance Corporation (IFC) 2012 Performance Standards and Environmental Health and Safety Guideline for Sugar Manufacturing (2007).

The ESIA study comprised of four main phases. The first phase of works comprised of a preliminary Impacts Identification Study (ESIA Scoping Study) whereby a team of environmental and social scientists undertook a Project site and Environs Reconnaissance with the main objectives of characterising the natural environment and social setting in the Project Site area and identifying and interviewing a random sample of project affected people (PAP). The findings of the scoping study were used to set the Project boundaries and define the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the full ESIA study.

The second phase of the study comprised of the design and implementation of the Environmental, Ecological and Social Baseline Studies (ESBS) which were conducted in order to obtain the Project Site specific primary data. This data was assessed during the Impacts Identification and Evaluation Studies (ESIA) undertaken during Phase 3 which identified and ranked the impacts of the proposed Project activities on the identified vulnerable environmental and social receptors.

The fourth phase entailed the development of a robust Environmental and Social Management and Monitoring Plan (ESMMP) to ensure that the Project’s adverse impacts were effectively mitigated and the positive impacts enhanced.

The ESIA was approved by MONREC and MIC and our client was granted investor privileges under the Foreign Investment Law 2012.