JJ-Pun in partnership with First Myanmar Investment Company Ltd. and Philips Lighting have announced plans to light up off-grid areas in Upper Myanmar with the installation of solar-powered LED "Community Light Centres,” according to a press release on March 22. 
JJ-Pun and its partners are undertaking this initiative with dual aims of improving quality of life for people living off the electricity grid and to demonstrate the possibilities of sustainable development in rural areas of Myanmar.
CLCs are areas of approximately 1,000 square metres, the size of a small soccer pitch, illuminated using a new generation of highly efficient solar-powered LED lighting. During the past year project partner Philips Lighting has realized CLC projects across Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, and is on target to reach 100 such centres by the end of 2015.
Drawing on this success, Myanmar's first CLC will be constructed in Ngar Zinyine village in the Tada-U Township of Upper Myanmar, effectively “extending the day’” and creating numerous opportunities for social and economic activities in the evening.  Construction of the CLC is scheduled to be completed during October 2015.  
Mr Philipp Hoffmann, managing director of JJ-Pun, said bringing light to the vast amounts of people in Myanmar currently living off the electricity grid will act as an enabler for both social and economic development within these communities. 

(From left to right) Mr. Philipp Hoffmann, Managing Director of JJ-Pun; U Kyaw Myint, Mandalay Region Minister for Electric Power and Industry; and U Theim Wai @ Mr. Serge Pun, Chairman of FMI and Yoma Strategic  Holdings sign the agreement to deliver sustainable off-grid solar lighting solutions in rural areas of upper Myanmar. Photo: FMI
“I am delighted the Community Light Centre programme gives us a sustainable means to achieve this and hope our actions demonstrate the important role sustainable development has to play in Myanmar's modernisation,” he said. 
This announcement comes on the heels of FMI being a local sponsor of Solar Impulse 2, the first-ever around the world solar-powered flight, which arrived in Myanmar on March 19, underscoring the company's commitment to furthering the use of sustainably produced energy in Myanmar.