Myanmar certainly deserves credit for beginning an impressive process of transformation
FOR some it’s the new El Dorado. Foreign investors are lining up to do business in Myanmar, a once-pariah nation which only a couple of years ago was almost as isolated as North Korea today. More…
Aung San Suu Kyi
Foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) are due to meet in Luxembourg on Monday to make a decision to withdraw all sanctions against Myanmar, exactly a year after the regional grouping announced suspension of most sanctions against the country for a year except arms embargo.
EU’s expected total lifting of all sanctions against Myanmar in recognition of its significant reform process would boost EU’s investment in the country and further promote Myanmar-EU relations.
In March this year, Myanmar President U Thein Sein paid an 11- day goodwill visit to the five European countries of Norway, Finland, Austria, Belgium and Italy. The milestone trip has brought about enhancement of bilateral ties with the EU countries. More…
Reposted from Fox Business
Ayala Corp. (AC.PH) is looking for investment opportunities in Myanmar, in preparation for a more connected Southeast Asia, the chairman and chief executive said Friday.
The diversified Philippine conglomerate has sent teams to Myanmar to look for opportunities in banking, real estate and telecommunications, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said in a news briefing after Ayala’s annual general meeting.
“There is strong interest on our part to participate in that economy,” said Mr. Zobel. More…
Reposted from Eleven Myanmar
Myanmar Consumer Summit (MCS) will be hosted by CMT on the 9-10 May 2013 in Yangon, to provide investors with insights on Myanmar’s consumer market and ensuing opportunities in a country shaping up amidst expanding middle-income consumerism.
It is designed to provide investors with insights on Myanmar’s consumer behavior, market size plus opportunities as the country shapes up in tandem with middle-income consumerism and sustainable economic growth.
The opening up of Myanmar has propelled the country into a new economic frontier with growing investment opportunities. More…
Reposted from EuropeanVoice.com
By Andrew Gardner
Foreign ministers will also discuss Mali and the Eastern partnership.
The European Union’s foreign ministers will next week (22-23 April) end most sanctions against Myanmar and are highly likely to increase support for rebels in Syria.
A proposal to support Myanmar’s move towards democracy will be rubber-stamped, with all sanctions, except on arms, being removed. There remains uncertainty about the rollback of Syrian sanctions, but only for technical reasons. At Germany’s suggestion, the EU would allow imports of Syrian oil, subject to the support of the rebel Syrian National Council, and could supply equipment to the energy sector in rebel-controlled areas. A more ambitious Anglo-French proposal to end the ban on arms for the rebels is not on the agenda. More…
Can’t build it fast enough: new construction in Rangoon, Burma.
Office space in Rangoon now rivals Midtown Manhattan’s in price.
A severe shortage of available land in Rangoon has led to a runaway property market, presenting a sobering reality check for companies attracted by Burma’s reform-driven boom—even with the International Monetary Fund’s forecast of a 6.3% increase in gross domestic product this year.
At $105.9 per square-foot per year, the most expensive Grade A offices in Burma’s largest city are already renting at more than 28% above those in Singapore ($82.4 per square foot), and at nearly double those in Lower Manhattan ($56.75 per square foot). If Rangoon had been included in Cushman & Wakefield’s 2013 survey of office prices published last month, it would have come in at No. 11, just behind Paris.
Rangoon’s property crunch illustrates the technical challenges that have accompanied Burma’s rapidly advancing reforms. Behind every major breakthrough—such as the easing of Western sanctions and a new foreign-investment policy—lie smaller but vital matters of brick-and-mortar policy implementation. More…
Reposted from blackseagrain
Japan is helping to boost Myanmar’s quest to regain its status as a top rice exporter by importing long-grain rice from the former military ruled Southeast Asian country for the first time in 45 years. Even more importantly, companies like Mitsui are investing in rice production to ensure the longevity of the industry. Myanmar Rice Industry Association Chairman Chit Khaing said that Japan is very enthusiastic about investing in the country’s rice industry.
Chit Khaing is also the head of the Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation Ltd (MAPCO) which is entering a joint venture with trading house Mitsui. They will be building four processing plants to produce rice for exports and to manufacture food products and produce power as well. This will be set up as part of the Integrated Rice Complex Project, which aims to produce 400,000 tons of rice per year. They will be creating other food products out of the rice like rice bran oil and rice noodles. Rice hulls will power the four factories as well. MAPCO will also be entering into a joint venture with Mitsubishi to mill tropical japonica rice, which is currently being milled in China. That particular kind of rice is used in the thin rice cakes that are very popular in Japan. More…
Reposted from The Myanmar Times
By Aye Thidar Kyaw and Shwe Gu Thitsar
Twelve private companies will be allowed to begin offering insurance to customers starting June 30, Deputy Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Maung Maung Thein said during a meeting at Myanma Insurance in Yangon on April 3.
Dr Maung Maung Thein was previously general manager of Myanma Insurance and secretary of the Insurance Business Supervision Committee.
Myanmar’s insurance industry has been a state-run monopoly under Myanma Insurance for more than 60 years but the government announced in September last year that the monopoly would be broken, and invited private companies to submit applications. More…
Reposted from Eleven Myanmar
Investors, both foreign and domestic, will be able to use a one-stop service center in Yangon as of Wednesday, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.
The agency will provide consultation and advice to investors, and help them with company registration and investment proposals, said San New at the directorate’s Yangon office.
The one-stop centre will streamline the investment process and allow potential investors to go through all the required administrative and legal steps at one location, she added. More…
Buildings go up in Yangon, where infrastructure is unable to keep up with breakneck development.
Deficiencies in infrastructure are holding back progress in realising the country’s huge potential, but they’re also golden opportunities
Myanmar’s backward infrastructure threatens to create a bottleneck, holding back the country’s rapid development. But for Hong Kong companies fresh from helping transform mainland China over the past 30 years, it adds up to opportunity.
The 320-kilometre bus ride from the commercial centre of Yangon to Naypyidaw, the new capital carved out of the jungle by the junta in the past decade, takes 6-1/2 hours. But traffic jams are not to blame for the slow pace. On the contrary, traffic is only seen occasionally on the main route between the old and new capitals. Rather, substandard construction techniques are to blame for the slow, sometimes bumpy ride. More…
