Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy

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Title: Is Your Business Funding Myanmar Military Abuses?
Sub-title: Even Before Coup, Companies Should Have Cut Ties to Armed Forces
Description: "The military coup in Myanmar this week should sound alarm bells in corporate boardrooms around the world. Since Myanmar’s transition from decades of military dictatorship to a civilian government began in 2011, transnational businesses have cautiously reentered the country. But the coup highlights the question company directors should already have been asking: “Is our company directly or indirectly funding the Myanmar military?” The human rights, reputational, and legal risks of continuing to do business with Myanmar’s military are immense. The Tatmadaw, as it is known, has been accused of genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya Muslims, and war crimes against other ethnic minorities. And now it has overthrown a civilian government that won a massive re- election, with over 80 percent of the vote, in November 2020. Companies doing business in Myanmar have long had access to credible information about the military’s grave abuses and corruption. A 2019 United Nations report found that companies with commercial ties to the Myanmar’s military and its conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), “are contributing to supporting the Tatmadaw’s financial capacity.” The report said these companies are at “high risk of contributing to or being linked to, violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.” The UN team’s recommendation was clear: companies operating or investing in Myanmar should not do business with “the security forces of Myanmar, in particular the Tatmadaw, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them, including subsidiaries, or their individual members.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-05
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Title: Bangladesh wants to join India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) trilateral highway
Description: "Bangladesh is interested in joining the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) trilateral highway to enhance connectivity with Southeast Asia, which would open a new chapter in trans-border corridors in the Indo-Pacific region. Dhaka’s expressed interest to join IMT — at a time when Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar or BCIM has made scant progress — during prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s virtual summit with her counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday. She sought India’s support to enable Bangladesh to join the initiative, according to the joint statement issued at the end of the summit. The IMT highways is aimed at opening land gate to ASEAN and boost trade and commerce. India has also proposed extending the highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. India has undertaken two projects in Myanmar under the 1,360-km IMT project that starts from Moreh in India to Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar. These are construction of the 120-km Kalewa-Yagyi road sections to highway standard and upgrading of 69 bridges and approach roads on the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa road section of 150 km. Bangladesh also wants trucks with its goods to enter Bhutan and Nepal through India and Hasina sought cooperation from Modi in this regard at the summit in what would promote Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) road connectivity as part of sub-regional cooperation, ET has learnt. At the summit Bangladesh and India discussed ways of cooperation to expand transportation solutions within BBIN region, apart from cooperation in cross-border energy trade. To facilitate better connectivity and simplify movement of passengers and goods between both the countries, both leaders agreed to an early operationalization of the BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement through expeditious signing of the Enabling MoU for Bangladesh, India and Nepal to commence the movement of goods and passengers, with provision for Bhutan to join at a later date..."
Source/publisher: "The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-03
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Title: Virus-Hit Sectors In Myanmar
Description: "To date, ASEAN has over 200,000 coronavirus infections across all 10 member states, with more than 6,000 fatalities as a result of the deadly disease. Although other regions such as Europe and the Americas have recorded more COVID-19 cases compared to Southeast Asia – the pandemic has still managed to ravage livelihoods and local industries in the latter region. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that growth in Southeast Asia will decelerate from 4.4 percent in 2019 to one percent this year before rebounding to 4.7 percent in 2021. “The evolution of the global pandemic – and thus the outlook for the global and regional economy –is highly uncertain. Growth could turn out lower, and the recovery slower, than we are currently forecasting,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist. For ASEAN member state Myanmar, despite the low reported cases of COVID-19 in the country which stands at 343 infections as of 23 July – the social and economic effects could be severe, noted the International Monetary Fund (IMF). An IMF publication titled, ‘Six Charts on Myanmar's Economy in the Time of COVID-19’ states that the pandemic shock has affected the economy’s key growth engines. It explains that the kingdom has seen a sharp decline in exports, remittances, and tourist arrivals. At the same time, domestic economic activity has been constrained by strict measures to curb the virus. According to a recent report by the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organisation (MTPO), the tourism industry has been hit hardest by the pandemic, followed by the garment industry. Other sectors that have been feeling the pinch include the rubber export and manufacturing sectors. Local media in the country reported that nearly one third of all companies in the country have temporarily shuttered due to the pandemic..."
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-24
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Title: Stockpiling and loans: Myanmar’s rice sector resilient to COVID-19
Sub-title: COVID-19 does not appear to have had a significant impact on monsoon planting for paddy despite some farmers facing financial difficulties, and the agriculture sector is expected to keep growing amid a slump in other parts of the economy.
Description: "Myanmar’s most important crop – grown on roughly half of its arable land – appears to have emerged relatively unscathed from the coronavirus pandemic. When the country’s first COVID-19 cases were reported on March 23, harvesting had begun for the summer rice crop; three months later, as efforts continue to keep the coronavirus under control, planting has begun for the monsoon crop. Overall, the agriculture sector, which accounts for 22 percent of GDP and 38pc of employment, had been “resilient”, the World Bank said in its June Myanmar Economic Monitor, and is expected to grow by 0.7pc for the year. This is mostly due to strong production of crops, such as rice, and beans and pulses, with COVID-19 inflicting a much greater impact on export-oriented agriculture sub-sectors, such as livestock, fisheries and fruit production. A World Bank survey in May found that while agriculture firms were the most likely to have experienced cash-flow shortages and reduced access to credit due to COVID-19, just 6pc of them were forced to close. In contrast, 12pc of manufacturers, 15pc of retail and wholesale businesses and 39pc of service companies shut their doors. But the impact of the virus remains a threat, says the Myanmar Rice Federation. It has asked the government to take a range of measures to strengthen the sector during the pandemic and beyond, including mitigating the impacts of climate change, particularly flooding, along with increasing financial and technical support. The government should ensure farmers have greater access to low-interest loans for buying inputs in order to ensure higher yields, the MRF said. It also urged greater flexibility on repayments so that farmers can wait a few months after the harvest, when overseas and domestic demand usually rises, rather than sell their crop at the same time to pay off debts, which pushes prices down. “We want to work with the government to create a mechanism to [maintain price stability]; the situation requires smart intervention from the government,” said MRF chair U Ye Min Aung..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-23
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Title: BRI Conference lauds CPEC, seeks greater regional connectivity
Description: "Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) convened the first ever Non-Governmental Online Conference on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which CPEC is the flagship, which was attended by 8 countries. The conference, which lasted for 2 hours and 45 minutes, had participants from Pakistan, China, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Myanmar & Sri Lanka. There was a wide-ranging discussion on different dimensions of BRI, which was followed by a 35-minute Question and Answer session. Five key consensus areas regarding BRI emerged from the conference: The coronavirus crisis has underlined the need for global interdependence to forge closer cooperation to tackle common challenges; BRI is the way forward as it promotes regional connectivity, based on the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit while acclaiming CPEC as "BRI success story". The propaganda about the so called 'Debt trap' was rejected by participants as in the case of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, total debt from China is a very small percentage of what is owed to other countries or multilateral institutions; 'New Cold War', demonization or stigmatizing any country using COVID19 as a political weapon or targeting BRI on geopolitical grounds were rejected; The India factor was recognized by countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka as they are neighbors and they would like good relations with both China and India and it was made clear that neither BRI is a military alliance nor it is directed either against India or against any Western country. Senator Mushahid Hussain, in his opening remarks, termed BRI as the biggest and most significant Diplomatic and Developmental initiative of 21st century. He said that CPEC, as flagship of BRI, is already a success story and has entered its the second phase successfully. Energy and infrastructure projects have been completed on schedule, 75,000 Pakistanis have got jobs in BRI projects and 28,000 Pakistani students are studying in China. He also thanked China for support to Pakistan during COVID-19 crisis and he mentioned the two resolutions passed by the Pakistan Senate, February 12 and May 14, in which the parliament of Pakistan appreciated China's role and support. Afghanistan’s former Ambassador to Pakistan and China, Janan Musazai, gave a specific five-point plan for Afghanistan’s role in BRI and he referred to CPEC as well, since Afghanistan can be a land bridge for connectivity and he said that China could facilitate to provide market access for BRI countries..."
Source/publisher: "china.org.cn" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-10
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Title: Six Charts on Myanmar's Economy in the Time of COVID-19
Sub-title: A frontier economy, Myanmar experienced rapid growth as it opened up in the 2000s, with GDP growth rates among the highest in Asia. However, growth had already been slowing when the coronavirus shock hit in early 2020.
Description: "Although officially recorded cases of COVID-19 in Myanmar remain low, the social and economic effects could be significant, given the externally IMF emergency financing of $356.5 million, along with external financing, the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, and continued capacity development, are alleviating the impact of COVID-19, while establishing the roots for more sustained and inclusive growth. The government’s COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan aims at minimizing the pandemic’s impact by stimulating the economy and boosting spending on health and social safety nets. Six charts tell the story of Myanmar’s economy during the early months of the COVID-19 crisis:oriented economy, uneven social safety nets, and the fragile healthcare system. Compared to other countries in the region, Myanmar’s COVID-19 outbreak appears to be limited. The country reports about 300 confirmed cases despite its large population of 54 million, possibly reflecting limited testing capacity. The authorities implemented strict containment measures well before the case count picked up, including travel restrictions, closure of land borders, and bans on mass public gatherings, helping to flatten the curve of infections. The COVID-19 shock has affected the economy’s key growth engines. Myanmar has seen a sharp decline in exports, remittances, and tourist arrivals. At the same time, domestic economic activity has been constrained by measures taken to control the spread of the virus. Such disruptions have affected households and businesses, including in agriculture, which comprises a fifth of the economy and over half of employment. Furthermore, nearly four out of five workers in Myanmar are employed in the informal sector, with limited access to social safety nets. There is high uncertainty around growth in the short term, also reflecting the intensity and duration of containment measures, and the evolution of external conditions..."
Source/publisher: "International Monetary Fund" (IMF) (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-09
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Title: Corn traders in Myanmar get organised in anticipation of more demand
Sub-title: The Ministry of Commerce will support banks in the provision of loans for planting Myanmar corn, demand for which is expected to rise in the coming years. The agreement was made between the ministry and the newly formed Myanmar Corn Industrial Association on June 26.
Description: "“As we expect demand to be very high, the Ministry of Commerce accepted our request for it to provide government loans or connect us to the banks so that we can obtain the funding we need to expand the plantations,” said U Min Khang chair of the association. There are about 1.9 million acres of corn plantations across the Ayeyarwady Region, Nay Pyi Taw, Shan State, Kayah State and Kayin State, yielding more than 3 million tonnes a year, according to last year’s data. Domestic consumption is less than half of what is produced, with the other half of the crop exported mainly to Thailand. Myanmar is currently also the second largest exporter of corn in Asean. Since the start of the 2019-20 fiscal year, demand for Myanmar corn has risen, particularly from Thailand, where demand for corn as industrial and animal feed is increasing. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the country has already exported around 1.8 million tonnes of corn this year, which is about a million tonnes more compared to the same period last year. More than 60 percent was sold to Thailand..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-29
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Title: Economic impact of COVID 19 severe on Myanmar firms and households
Description: "The latest edition of the half yearly Myanmar Economic Monitor- June 2020 of the World Bank has devoted its analysis to the economic impact of COVID-19 and how to recover from the disruptions caused by the pandemic and associated measures for the prevention of its spread. “The pandemic and associated containment measures are undermining aggregate demand, disrupting value chains, and reducing the labor supply, following strong activity in the first 5 months of the year”. The crisis has had an especially negative effect on wholesale and retail trade, tourism-related services, manufacturing and construction. Sectors like agriculture and telecommunications appear to have demonstrated resilience compared to others. The pandemic has impacted the firms of all sectors (agriculture, industry and services) severely as per the survey conducted in May 2020 by the World Bank. About 16 percent of the firms it has surveyed reported closing their operations for an average of eight weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but this figure rose to 39 percent among service sector firms. By contrast, just 12 percent of manufacturers and 6 percent of agricultural firms reported temporary closures. 89 percent of manufacturers reported a reduction in sales, compared to 75 percent of agricultural firms. Adaptation of firms to changing scenario in terms of production, sale and marketing strategies appear to be slow. And very few firms have applied to seek support from the government announced package of relief measures. This reflects the need for adopting an outreach strategy to support the firms in a more systematic way..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-28
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Title: Global Myanmar Automobile Market 2020 with Coronavirus (COVID-19) Effect Analysis | likewise Industry is Booming Globally with Key Players – Panasonic, AESC, PEVE, LG Chem, LEJ, Samsung SDI, Hitachi, ACCUmotive
Description: "Syndicate Market Research has recently added the latest report, titled “Myanmar Automobile Market by Product Type (Alkaline Batteries, Acid Battery, Neutral Batteries, Organic Battery Electrolyte Solution), by Application (Passenger Vehicle, Commercial Vehicle) – Overall In-depth Analysis, Global Market Share, Top Trends, Professional & Technical Industry Insights 2020 – 2026“, which examines the overview of the various factors enabling growth and trends in the global industry. The global Myanmar Automobile market report portrays an in-depth analysis of the global Myanmar Automobile Market that assesses the market size and market estimation for the predicted period. The leading performers of the Myanmar Automobile Market are profiled in the report along with the systematic details referring to their revenue, segmentation, earlier improvements, product segmentation, and a complete outline of their businesses. This report covers the impact of the corona-virus on leading companies in the Myanmar Automobile sector and also gives a comprehensive study of Covid-19 impact analysis of the market This report includes market status and forecast of global and major regions, with the introduction of vendors, regions, product types and end industries; and this report counts product types and end industries in global and major regions..."
Source/publisher: "Cole of Duty"
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-27
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Title: IMF approves $356 million support for Myanmar
Sub-title: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a total of $356.5 million support for Myanmar as the country suffers from an ailing economy despite its low virus transmission cases.
Description: "In a statement released on its website on Saturday, June 27, the IMF’s executive board said that it approved a disbursement of $118.8 million under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and a purchase of $237.7 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) for Myanmar. “This will help meet the urgent balance-of-payments and fiscal needs arising from the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-2019) pandemic, support the government’s plans to boost spending especially on health and social safety nets,” the IMF said. Myanmar has so far recorded 293 confirmed cases, of which 215 have recovered while six others died. While the country was one of the countries in the Southeast Asian region with the lowest number of cases, its economy was severely affected by slow domestic demand that has disrupted households and businesses, including the agriculture sector which comprises a fifth of its economy and over half of employment. “Domestic demand has weakened as the necessary measures to control a domestic outbreak have affected economic activities. As revenues fall and expenditures rise, the fiscal deficit is increasing, putting pressure on funding and public debt,” the IMF said. “The external position is deteriorating due to the collapse in global demand for garments and gas, weak tourism and remittance inflows and lower foreign direct investment,” it added..."
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Economist"
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-27
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Title: Myanmar inches closer to foreign investment target in Q3 of FY 2019-20
Description: "Myanmar has attracted over 4.4 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investments as of third quarter of this fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 and is expected to reach its target, state-run media reported on Saturday. Myanmar set its target of foreign direct investments (FDI) to 5.8 billion U.S. dollars in present FY 2019-2020 which lasts from October, 2019 to September 2020. "We only need 1.4 billion U.S. dollars to meet our target. We need to make sure to follow our guidelines such as less economic impact by the COVID-19 pandemic, encouragement through COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan, giving priority to creating job opportunities and paying attention by the government over the recovery of the economic impact by the pandemic," Director-General U Thant Sin Lwin of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) was quoted as saying. During the COVID-19 period, some existing investment businesses have increased capital amount of investment while new investments are flowing into the country, he said. During the first nine months of this FY, power sector attracted most foreign investments, accounting for 25 percent of total inward investments..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-27
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Title: Myanmar provides 22 mln USD loans to pandemic-hit business
Description: " The Myanmar government has provided 31.8 billion kyats (22 million U.S. dollars) loans to the most vulnerable business affected by the COVID-19, an official from the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry told a press briefing on Wednesday. "Under the country's COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan, the loans had been given out as of June 18 to 832 vulnerable businesses in the garment manufacturing sector, hotels and tourism as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at 1 percent interest rate with one-year period," said Maung Maung Win, deputy minister of Planning, Finance and Industry. Meanwhile, the government will also provide 50,000 kyats (35.7 U.S. dollars) loans per acre as COVID-19 Special Relief loans to the local farmers at 5 percent annual interest rate starting this month to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the agricultural sector, he said. It was learnt that a total of 600 billion kyats (428 million U.S. dollars) special relief loans will be given out for 12 million acres until September along with annual monsoon agricultural loans to the farmers. Myanmar has reported 293 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with six deaths as of Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-25
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Title: Myanmar fruit export revenues stable due to strong banana demand
Sub-title: Revenue from Myanmar's fruit exports have reached US$370 million in the current fiscal year, which is on par with revenues generated over the same period in the previous fiscal year despite COVID-19, according to the Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producer and Exporter Association.
Description: "This was due to higher demand from China for good quality Myanmar bananas produced from local tissue culture, which offset a decline in exports of other fruits like watermelons and cucumbers. In fact, if it wasn't for COVID-19, Myanmar could have enjoyed a net increase in fruit export revenues this year if proper storage facilities had been available at the Myanmar-China border to store fruits while traders waited to clear longer procedures and other delays due to the pandemic. "Our fruit export income would have increased by a lot more if we had a better system to manage wastage at the border. Currently, about 80 percent of locally produced fruit has gone to waste as a result of disruptions from COVID-19," said Daw Sandar Myo, secretary of the association. Fruits are mainly exported to China at the border. Before COVID-19, watermelons and cucumbers were the main fruit exports and revenue had been on the rise each year due to increasing demand. This year, the decline in exports of watermelons and cucumbers was offset by a surge in demand for bananas at the start of the year, said U Khin Maung Lwin, assistant secretary of the Ministry of Commerce..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-24
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Title: Myanmar Expects to See Worst of Covid-19 Economic Impact Starting in September
Description: "Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter on what you need to know, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis. Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the most severe economic impact from the novel coronavirus outbreak is expected in the final four months of this year. “We’d like to reassure the people that we’re well prepared to address the impacts,” Suu Kyi said in a panel discussion via video conference on Tuesday. “We believe we’ll be able to overcome them through inclusive cooperation.” The Southeast Asian nation is due to receive $1.25 billion in emergency loans from international organizations, Thaung Tun, investment and foreign economic relations minister, said in the same panel..."
Source/publisher: "Bloomberg News" (New York)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-20
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Title: UNHCR: Businesses have a vital role to play in helping refugees through COVID-19
Description: ""When the lockdown occurred, we saw very, very quickly that refugees ... lost their jobs," the UNHCR's Gillian Triggs told an online discussion hosted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation on challenges facing refugees in the COVID-19 era. Half of refugees in Lebanon and Colombia have lost their income source, and almost two thirds of recently settled refugees in the United States may have lost their jobs, panelists said. The pandemic has also increased xenophobia and discrimination and led to a big rise in evictions, added Triggs, the UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. She said refugees must be included in national health systems, not just for their own safety but for everyone's. "If one person is sick with COVID, we all are," she added. Gideon Maltz, executive director of the Tent Partnership for Refugees comprising more than 100 major companies, said some businesses were already taking action to help refugees. In the Netherlands, electronics giant Philips is supporting an initiative hiring refugees to produce masks from filter material used in its vacuum cleaner bags. It is producing 150,000 masks a week, Philips said. "Businesses have a vital role to play," said Maltz. "There's a huge opportunity for all of them to step up." Prior to COVID, he said companies like IKEA and Starbucks had already made their hiring process more inclusive. Five countries account for two-thirds of the world's refugees: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar. Most refugees seek asylum in a neighbouring country. Maltz urged governments to use taxes and other incentives to encourage businesses to employ refugees. Maltz suggested the European Union could give Turkey preferential access for its agricultural products if it helped Syrian refugees to work in the sector..."
Source/publisher: World Economic Forum (Switzerland)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-20
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Title: Banks circle rare Myanmar buyout
Description: " The battle for control of Irrawaddy Green Towers could lead to a rare acquisition financing in Myanmar and the country’s largest-ever syndicated loan. International banks are discussing a US$300m-$400m loan with shortlisted bidders that include private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and edotco Group, a unit of Malaysia’s Axiata Group. The preferred bidder is expected to be picked by early July. A financing of that size would be Myanmar’s largest syndicated loan and only the second leveraged buyout in the country, if a financial sponsor emerges victorious. The loan will test liquidity for a market that is seldom on the radar for lenders, many of which don’t have country limits for Myanmar. “Country limits will present a key challenge for the debt financing,” said a Singapore-based senior loans banker. “It might not be easy to put this together.” The sale of IGT comes in a subdued period for mergers and acquisitions in Asia Pacific as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. That could encourage lenders to add to their exposure given that an IGT financing is likely to pay higher yields than those that are found elsewhere in Asia. This year, some borrowers from Myanmar have raised club loans totalling US$370m from half a dozen Asian banks, for property sector credits such as Kajima Myanmar Holding and conglomerate Shwe Taung Group..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-19
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Title: Myanmar attracts over 4 bln USD foreign investment in 8 months of current FY
Description: "Investment capital of over 4.10 billion U.S. dollars from permitted foreign enterprises have entered Myanmar in eight months of present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 stating in October, according to figures issued by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Monday. The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) gave the go-ahead to 178 foreign investment enterprises from Oct. 1, 2019 to May 31 of this FY. During the period, power sector attracted most investment capital with over 1.67 billion U.S. dollars, followed by real estate and manufacturing sectors. From FY 1988-89 to FY 2019-20, the MIC gave the nod to 2,015 foreign enterprises, with investment capital of over 85.9 billion U.S. dollars. Power sector took 26.60 percent of foreign investment, followed by oil and gas sector with 26.51 percent and manufacturing with 14.11 percent, respectively. Singapore, China and Thailand are top leading investors in Myanmar. Regionally, the Yangon region attracts 60 percent of investment from both home and abroad, followed by Mandalay region with 30 percent and the rest flowed into other regions and states. The new Myanmar Companies Law, which was enforced in August 2018, provides tax exemption and relief to investors depending on the development of the regions and states, allowing investors in far-flung areas to enjoy tax breaks of up to seven years..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-15
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Title: Investor interest in Myanmar garment sector still strong despite lower exports
Sub-title: Foreign investor interest in the garment manufacturing sector is still strong despite a fall in the volume of garment exports in fiscal 2019-20, according to the government.
Description: "Of the 178 foreign enterprises endorsed by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) and permitted to invest in Myanmar between October 1 and May 31, more than three quarters channeled capital into the manufacturing sector, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). The data showed that the new investors include garment manufacturers. The MIC will prioritise investments in garment manufacturing going forward as these are labour intensive industries likely to create a large number of jobs, Director General of DICA U Thant Sin Lwin told state media. Manufacturers that are able to produce face masks and other personal protective equipment related to COVID-19 will also be given priority. Enquiries from investors are still flowing in even though garment exports fell to just US$2.7 billion between October 1, 2019 and May 31, representing a $24 million decline from the same period a year before due to order cancellations from the EU as a result of COVID-19, according to U Khin Maung Lwin, assistant secretary of the Ministry of Commerce. This has also led to a rising number of disputes between employers and their employees as factories are forced to lay off or close. The industry hires up to 700,000 predominantly female workers across 600 factories, according to data provided by the EU. Disruptions to the Myanmar garment sector first started in February, when raw material imports from China became sporadic as a result of COVID-19 closures and lockdowns. Things got worse after the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation on March 11, with order delays and cancellations from major export countries like the EU becoming more frequent..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-14
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Title: Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo fail to address Myanmar jade mine abuses, charity says
Description: "C aterpillar Inc, Komatsu Ltd and Volvo AB - leading providers of machinery to Myanmar’s jade mines - have done little to address warnings about rampant abuses in the multibillion-dollar industry they supply, a Swedish charity said on Wednesday. Stockholm-based Swedwatch, which focuses on business activities in developing countries, said the three firms still dominate the machinery market in Hpakant, a mining township in the restive Kachin state that supplies 90% of the world’s jade. Myanmar’s poorly regulated jade mines help finance a long-running conflict between the army and armed ethnic groups, and the report said the industry contributed to land degradation, water pollution and landslides that kill hundreds of people each year. “The global mining machinery companies’ seemingly blatant lack of safeguards in response to this context is a matter of serious urgency,” Swedwatch said in a report. It said U.S. machine maker Caterpillar and Japan’s Komatsu “still have not attempted to identify the negative human rights impacts related to their products in Myanmar”. Volvo did engage human rights consultants to conduct due diligence following an initial report by the charity in 2018. The Swedish company said the probe had absolved it of any responsibility. “As a machinery provider, we do not believe we are responsible for human rights violations ... where our products are not directly responsible for the harm caused,” spokeswoman Anna Abenius told the Thomson Reuters Foundation..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-10
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Title: Myanmar's foreign trade reaches over 24 bln USD in 8 months
Description: "Myanmar's foreign trade reached over 24.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of the present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020, according to figures released by the Commerce Ministry on Thursday. From Oct. 1, 2019 to May 22, 2020, the export value registered over 11.5 billion U.S. dollars while the import value was over 13 billion U.S. dollars. The country's trade deficit of present FY was over 1.52 billion U.S. dollars, up from over 874 million U.S. dollars compared to the corresponding period of the last FY. During the eight-month period of the current fiscal year, Myanmar's manufacturing goods were exported with value of over 5.98 billion U.S. dollars while over 5 billion U.S. dollars worth of capital goods were imported to the country, the ministry's figure showed. Myanmar's agricultural products, animal products, marine products minerals, forest products, manufacturing goods and others are exported while the country imports capital goods, intermediate goods and consumer goods. About 80 percent of the country's foreign trade is done through sea route and its border trade is conducted with neighboring China, Thailand, Bangladesh and India..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-04
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Title: In Myanmar, campaigners oppose US$21 million conservation project
Description: "Campaigners in the Tanintharyi region of southern Myanmar have urged international donors to support community conservation efforts, rather than what they see as a top-down approach that excludes indigenous groups. Campaigners in the Tanintharyi region of southern Myanmar have urged international donors to support community conservation efforts, rather than what they see as a top-down approach that excludes indigenous groups. Supporters of the Conservation Alliance of Tanintharyi (CAT) are opposing a $21 million development project, called Ridge to Reef, backed by the Myanmar government, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), The Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI). FOOD & AGRICULTURE Myanmar risks losing forests to oil palm Read now In a report released on Friday, CAT documents resistance in local communities to the imposition of protected areas, as well as their ongoing efforts to protect fish breeding grounds and water catchment areas, along with establishing their own protected community forests..."
Source/publisher: "Eco-Business"
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-28
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Title: Myanmar strives for better e-commerce system
Description: "Myanmar's Ministry of Commerce is striving to implement a guideline for the better e-commerce system in the country, a government official told E-commerce Virtual Conference on Thursday. "It is a good time to carry out the process for further development of e-commerce system as the mobile penetration is over 100 percent now in the country," said U Aung Htoo, Deputy Minister of Commerce. The move comes as the Commerce Ministry has been tasked with facilitating trade, stabilizing prices and providing emergency food under the country's COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP). Currently, most of the e-commerce businesses are operating informally and the main goal of the ministry is to establish a secure and regulated trading system on the internet in the country, he said. "The growth of e-commerce business in Myanmar will help to boost the communications between traders and customers and also to connect businesses both locally and internationally," he added. It is also learnt that the Commerce Ministry supported the establishment of Digital Economy Association and E-commerce Association so as to develop e-commerce system in the country..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-28
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Title: Commerce ministry lifts ban on foreign liquor imports – at a price
Sub-title: The white-listing of imported liquor follows years of intense lobbying by foreign producers, but hopes for a reduction in smuggled spirits may be frustrated by high import taxes.
Description: "Myanmar has ended a decades-old ban on liquor imports but high taxes mean the measure may not be enough to stem illicit trade in foreign spirits ­– at least in the short term. The Ministry of Commerce on May 25 issued a notification removing liquor from a list of items that are banned from import, as well as a notification outlining procedures for companies to legally import foreign alcohol into the country. The policy change is intended to meet market demand, ensure customers can access quality products, control illegal imports and increase tax revenues, the notification says. The decision to open up the market is considered a significant reform, particularly given the widespread nature of smuggling and concerns about consumer safety. Support independent journalism in Myanmar. Sign up to be a Frontier member. Mr Cedric Retailleau, managing director for Southeast Asia at French drinks giant Pernod Ricard, said the May 25 notifications were “an important step” and the company would continue to engage with the government to encourage further market liberalisation. “Progressive, step-by-step liberalisation of international spirits into Myanmar will be crucial to further tackling and reducing illicit trade and mitigating public health risks,” he said. But the impact of the move may be limited initially because the notification blocks the import of any products with a value of less than US$8 a litre in order to protect local producers. Combined with customs duties and other taxes, a one-litre bottle of legally imported spirits will cost at least $20 a litre – approximately double the smuggled products available openly on the market..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-27
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Title: Myanmar: The COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan
Sub-title: In an effort to meet the current exigencies faced by Myanmar as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Myanmar Government had, on 27 April 2020, launched the COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan. The COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan comprises seven goals, 10 strategies, 36 action plans and 76 actions, each with an estimated timeline and designated authority in charge, covering a range of fiscal and social measures.
Description: "In brief In an effort to meet the current exigencies faced by Myanmar as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Myanmar Government had, on 27 April 2020, launched the COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP). The CERP comprises seven goals, 10 strategies, 36 action plans and 76 actions, each with an estimated timeline and designated authority in charge, covering a range of fiscal and social measures. Key Takeaways Businesses in Myanmar should consider the various financing options and tax deferrals/waivers that may be applicable to their operations but also be mindful of possible conditions attached to those relief measures. For example, it appears that companies applying for loans under the government credit guarantee scheme would have to undertake to retain or rehire their employees but there are currently scant details on whether the employers can adjust the salaries or the moratorium period in which they are prohibited from dismissing their employees. Foreign investors who have been looking at the Myanmar market may take the opportunity to seek fast-track approvals of their investments into the country, in particular for reputable international firms as well as companies in the promoted areas of renewable energy and strategic infrastructure, delivery and logistics services, healthcare, including the manufacturing of medical-related products, and digital payment services..."
Source/publisher: "Global Compliance News"
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-27
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Title: Power sector tops Myanmar's foreign investment in 7 months of FY 2019-20
Description: "The power sector topped Myanmar's foreign direct investment (FDI) with over 1 billion U.S. dollars of investment capital from six permitted foreign enterprises in first seven months of current fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020, government figures showed Monday. As of April 30 of present FY, Myanmar attracted a total of over 3.35 billion U.S. dollars' foreign investment, according to figures released by Myanmar's Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Monday. According to DICA's figures, the real estate sector stood second with 895 million U.S. dollars, followed by the manufacturing sector with 544 million U.S. dollars and others. From FY 1988-1989 to April 30 of FY 2019-2020, which started in October, 26.07 percent of foreign investment flowed into the country's power sector with capital of over 22.2 billion U.S. dollars, the DICA's figures said. In last FY 2018-2019, total annual FDI in the country amounted over 4.15 billion U.S. dollars..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-25
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Title: Ant Financial Invests in Myanmar's Wave Money
Description: "Ant Financial, the Chinese operator of Alipay, announced its plans to invest US$73.5 million for a minority stake in Digital Money Myanmar Limited, a fintech company based in Myanmar locally known as Wave Money, the companies announced in a press release. Wave Money, a mobile financial services provider, allows users to send and receive money through a network of more than 57,000 agents or “Wave Shops” distributed across urban and rural areas covering approximately 89 percent of the country. Wave Money, a joint venture between Norway’s Telenor and the local Yoma Group through its Yoma Strategic and Yoma Bank group companies, aims to to promote financial inclusion for the underbanked communities in Myanmar in order to reach the government stated goal of increasing financial inclusion in the country from its current 48 percent to 60 percent by 2020. As part of the partnership, Wave Money will leverage Ant Group’s experience in mobile payment platforms to improve its capabilities, give users a smoother experience and to offer services that better address the needs of users in Myanmar. In a country where only about 25 percent of the population has access to a bank account, “Myanmar is ready for mass adoption of digital payments with a connected population and high smartphone penetration. This partnership will be transformative for Wave Money and Myanmar,” said Brad Jones, Wave Money’s CEO in a statement released on Monday (18 May)..."
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-24
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Title: Myanmar’s viral denial turns to economic despair
Description: "Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is scrambling to roll out Covid-19 relief measures in a race to prevent businesses and banks from collapsing under the weight of the global pandemic. In late April, her government issued a 15-page “Covid-19 Economic Relief Plan” which broadly outlined its responses to the pandemic, though without committing to an overall cost or details on how the plan will be implemented. So far the impact of the pandemic has been mostly economic in Myanmar. As of May 14, the country had recorded only 181 Covid-19 cases and six deaths, though there is widespread skepticism about the figures due to a lack of testing. The government was earlier widely criticized for claiming there were no cases in the country. Deputy Finance Minister Set Aung indicated the relief package would inject the kyat equivalent of around US$2 billion into the local economy, representing between 3-4% of gross domestic product (GDP). The stimulus package will be funded by budget reallocations, central bank financing and assistance from international financial institutions, authorities said..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-15
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Title: Everyday Economic Survival in Myanmar by Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung. Madison: Wisconsin University Press, 2019, 320 pages.
Description: "Ardeth Thawnghmung’s new book, Everyday Economic Survival in Myanmar is an engaging read, particularly for those working in livelihoods or microfinance in the INGO sector, for international donor agencies creating strategies for lending, grants, or programming in Myanmar, or for anyone interested in Myanmar’s informal economy. Thawnghmung’s focus on the coping strategies employed by everyday Myanmar people across the country draws on Kerkvliet’s ‘everyday politics’, Scott’s ‘everyday resistance’, and Thawnghmung’s earlier work. Thawnghmung uses Hirschman’s (1970) framework of loyalty, voice, and exit and an adaptation of Scott’s (1985) passive resistance (“indirect, frequent, and often uncoordinated acts of resistance”, p. 11) to frame and analyze various coping strategies found in Myanmar. She calls this the LPVE framework (loyalty, passive resistance, voice, and exit). Yet, her approach is multidisciplinary, incorporating political, economic, social, and psychological coping strategies, turning the focus from politics to survival. For those familiar with her earlier work on authoritarianism and state legitimacy (2004) and the politics of “quotidian matters” (2011), by turning to the study of everyday survival, Thawnghmung is yet again pushing our conceptions of “the political” in Myanmar. Thawnghmung’s work emphasizes that the ways in which people make choices and decisions about how to make ends meet is integral to the functioning of politics and authority..."
Source/publisher: "Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-03
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Title: Government set to unveil COVID-19 economic response plan
Sub-title: Due for release in the coming days, the COVID-19 Comprehensive Response Plan will include new economic stimulus measures and increased funding for the health sector, as well as detail on how the plan can be funded.
Description: "The government is set to unveil a COVID-19 response plan that will expand economic stimulus and social protection measures while also boosting healthcare spending to better prepare the country for an expected rise in coronavirus cases. The COVID-19 Comprehensive Response Plan is likely to be released in the coming days, Frontier understands, with the government only waiting for development partners to provide feedback on the final draft. The plan is being kept under tight wraps, with multilateral institutions such as the World Bank – which was heavily involved in drafting the plan – and bilateral donors like the United States, the European Union and Australia, which were all consulted heavily, refusing to comment. Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry officials who led the drafting process did not respond to requests for interview, while ministry spokesperson and permanent secretary U Tun Tun Naing said he had no specific information on the plan. Support independent journalism in Myanmar. Sign up to be a Frontier member. Multiple sources familiar with the final draft of the COVID-19 Comprehensive Response Plan told Frontier it provides a coherent picture of the government’s economic plans and will make it easier for development partners to contribute through grants and loans..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of entry/update: 2020-04-28
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Title: COVID-19 Threatens Myanmar’s Economy
Sub-title: Myanmar looks to East Asian states to support an ailing economy amid the pandemic.
Description: "Myanmar has seen a moderate domestic impact from the global COVID-19 outbreak, recording just 85 cases as of April 17. However, the country’s reliance on international trade, investment, and technology means it will face near- and medium-term economic challenges that it is inadequately equipped to deal with alone. Export volumes for simple manufactured goods have seen the biggest impact. The garment sector, which employs over 700,000 workers and accounts for $4.6 billion in export revenue — or 10 percent of all exports — has faced both supply and demand shocks. China supplies 90 percent of raw materials for the sector; however, exports to Myanmar were halted between January and March. Just as supplies were returning to normal in April, demand for Myanmar garment products collapsed. Myanmar exports 70 percent of such products to European countries, most of which have been enforcing lockdowns and closing nonessential retail stores. As a result, 25,000 workers from over 40 garment factories have been laid off in Myanmar so far. Recognizing the hardship this is causing, the European Union on April 9 announced a 5 million euro ($5.46 million) aid package for garment workers..."
Source/publisher: "The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update: 2020-04-23
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Title: China's Belt and Road power grids keep security critics awake
Sub-title: As Xi connects the region, Philippines weighs 'shutdown' risk
Description: "Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has not been sleeping well. "It is very difficult for us to sleep every night without lingering fears," he said in early February, as he presided over an investigation into potential security risks stemming from Chinese part-ownership of his country's power grid operator. The Philippines is far from the only country running on China-backed electricity. As a complement to President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, Beijing is pushing what it calls Global Energy Interconnection -- a vision of a multi-trillion-dollar worldwide electricity network. China already has a number of power lines connected to other countries, including Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, while lines into Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh are under consideration. For emerging economies hampered by chronic electricity shortages, such investments may be a blessing. Critics, however, worry that China's expanding presence in regional power grids could leave partner countries vulnerable. Xi himself proposed Global Energy Interconnection in 2015 at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, as a way to meet the world's demand for clean power. Like the Belt and Road itself, China frames the concept as beneficial for everyone. "It increases mutual trust in politics and creates a new pattern of energy security featuring cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results," says the website of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization, or GEIDCO, the body leading the charge..."
Source/publisher: "Nikkei Asian Review" (Japan)
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-03
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Title: How China Is Losing Support For Its Belt And Road Initiative
Description: "China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is nothing if not vague. Is it a blanket term for all Chinese overseas economic, social and political activities? Is it a specific set of coordinated policy that’s exclusive to Beijing-led international endeavors? What projects are officially Belt and Road? Where do the corridors actually go? What countries are truly participating? Nearly seven years into the initiative, we are still asking these questions as Beijing attempts to wrangle back its message from private firms and enterprising governments that have unscrupulously been using the Belt and Road brand for their own gains, dragging its reputation through the proverbial mud and putting the future of the initiative in jeopardy. The Belt and Road was announced in 2013 as an economic development initiative that would create new trade corridors across Asia, Europe and Africa, positioning China at the top of the geo-economic food chain, while providing mutual benefit to participants all the way down the line. Beyond that vague rendering, the rest was left to conjecture, with a large degree of meaning lost between China’s struggles to explain the initiative and the West’s inability to comprehend it.“I think the difference among policy makers is one of the biggest challenges of the Belt and Road,” said Moritz Rudolf, a China researcher, lawyer, and founder of Eurasia Bridges. “For the Chinese side it's unclear why the West doesn’t understand what they are doing and from the Western side it's ‘this is nothing because it doesn't follow our procedures that we know about.’”..."
Source/publisher: "Forbes" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-03
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Title: Myanmar exports over 1 mln tons of rice, broken rice in 5 months
Description: "Myanmar has exported over 1.19 million tons of rice and broken rice in first five months of present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020, according to the latest figures released by Myanmar Rice Federation on Saturday. From Oct.1, 2019 to Feb. 7 of this FY, the country earned over 343.6 million U.S. dollars from the export of 838,672 tons of rice and 356,370 tons of broken rice. During the period, 86.32 percent of rice and broken rice export was done through sea route. Meanwhile, demand for Myanmar's rice and broken rice from neighbouring countries including China accounted for over 27 percent of the export. Myanmar has set a target to export 2.5 million tons of rice in present fiscal year which will end on Sept. 30, 2020. In previous FY 2018-2019, the country exported over 2.35 million tons of rice and broken rice with over 709.6 million U.S. dollars' export revenue..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-01
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Title: Will India join U.S. counter to China’s BRI?
Sub-title: China’s overseas projects funded by debt from its own infrastructure banks are now viewed with trepidation, by both recipient countries for the potential debt trap.
Description: "Global business and strategy analysts will be watching with keen interest any attempts US President Donald Trump makes to convince India to join its ambitious plan to counter China’s ‘Silk Route’ programme of port and highway constructions. Last November, the US, Japan and Australia unveiled the ‘Blue Dot’ infrastructure network, ostensibly to certify and promote infrastructure development, but in reality, it was to take on China’s BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) that is currently building a chain of roads and ports connecting most of the world to Beijing. The Western alternative has been in the making for some time as nations have voiced alarm at the cheque-book diplomacy of China through its BRI projects and their security ramifications. Soon after Blue Dot’s launch, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lost no time in pointing out that American direct investment into Asia had topped $1.6 trillion and that “our numbers will only get bigger”. It was quickly noted by China’s Global Times, which said, “Although China was not mentioned by name, it’s widely suspected that Washington’s new plan is directed against the China proposed BRI.” China’s pique is natural as analysts say Blue Dot could be backed with funding by Japan’s JICA and America’s newly founded International Development Finance Corporation and Ausaid, not to mention a host of global development finance windows backed by the West..."
Source/publisher: "The New Indian Express" (India)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-25
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Title: Power sector attracts over 1 bln USD foreign investment in Myanmar in 4 months
Description: "Power sector attracted over 1 billion U.S. dollars of investment capital from six permitted foreign enterprises in first four months of current fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 which started in October, according to figures released by Myanmar's Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). As of Jan. 31, Myanmar's power sector topped the list with most investment capital, followed by real estate and manufacturing sectors. From FY 1988-1989 to Jan. 31 of FY 2019-2020, 26.4 percent of foreign investment flowed into the country's power sector with capital of over 22.2 billion U.S. dollars, the DICA's figures said. Meanwhile, Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) allowed 106 enterprises with a total of 2.08 billion U.S. dollars of investment capital as of Jan. 31 of present FY 2019-2020..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-24
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Title: Mekong nations, China push for more trade, investment, connectivity
Description: "The six Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) countries agreed on the need to elevate their cooperation from rapid-expansion to a comprehensive stage as their foreign ministers met in Vientiane on Thursday. The ministers of the MLC member countries - China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – reached the agreement at their fifth meeting, Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi told a press conference shortly after the meeting. Participants welcomed the recommendation by the Global Centre for Mekong Study that the MLC countries jointly create the Mekong-Lancang Economic Development Belt. The ministers reaffirmed the need to further enhance regional connectivity by jointly promoting the MLC Economic Development Belt and to explore the possibility of synergising the MLC Plan of Action on Connectivity with global transport infrastructure – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Master Plan on Asean Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, and the Asean-China New Western Land-Sea Corridor..."
Source/publisher: Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-23
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Title: Military Capitalism in Myanmar: Examining the Origins, Continuities and Evolution of "Khaki Capital" (ISEAS Trends, 2019)
Description: "Military enterprises, ostensibly set up to feed and supply soldiers,were some of the earliest and largest Burmese commercialconglomerates, established in the 1950s. Union Myanmar EconomicHoldings Limited (UMEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) are two profit-seeking military enterprises established by the military after the dissolution of the Burma Socialist Programme Party in 1988, which remain central players in Myanmar’s post-2011 economy.• Military conglomerates are a major source of off-budget revenuefor the military and a main employer of retired soldiers. Yet few veterans receive more than a small piece of the profits from UMEHL. The vast bulk of formal dividends instead disproportionately benefit higher ranking officers and institutions within the Tatmadaw. Military capitalism entrenches the autonomy of the Tatmadawfrom civilian oversight. Despite this, obligatory or semi-coerced contributions from active-duty soldiers are a source of cash fow for UMEHL, effectively constituting a transfer from the government budget to the military’s off-budget entities. The most significant source of livelihoods support for most veterans is the service pension dispersed by the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MoPF).• Despite delivering suboptimal welfare outcomes for most soldiers and veterans while eroding the legitimacy of ceasefires, successive governments since 1988, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD) administration, have entrenched military capitalism by encouraging commercial activities of armed groups that enter into ceasefire agreements..."
Source/publisher: Yusof Ishak Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-23
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Title: Myanmar opening more doors to foreign investments in Yangon region
Description: "Myanmar's Yangon Region Investment Committee (YRIC) recently approved 16 foreign investment businesses for the region, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Sunday (Feb 23). A total of US$28.507mil of foreign investments from China, Seychelles and Estonia as well as 3 billion Kyats (US2mil) from one local enterprise engaged the region's manufacturing sector and other services, creating over 8,900 job opportunities for local citizens. Yangon region absorbs 60% of country's investment from both home and abroad, followed by Mandalay region with % and the rest flows into other regions and states. Myanmar attracted over US$20.8bil foreign investments as of Jan 31, the first four months of the current fiscal year 2019-2020, according to the DICA's figures. The new Myanmar Companies Law which started to enforce on Aug. 1, 2018 allows foreign investors to take up 35 percent in local companies..."
Source/publisher: "The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-23
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Title: Myanmar's sea trade registers over US$10bil in 5 months
Description: " Myanmar's trade through sea routes registered over US$10.4bil in the first five months of the present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020, which started in October, according to figures released by the Commerce Ministry on Saturday (Feb 22). The country fetched over US$4.14bil from maritime export while its import shared over US$6.33bil as of Feb 14 this FY. This fiscal year's sea trade saw a significant increase by over US$1.58bil, compared to the same period of the last fiscal year 2018-2019, the ministry's figures showed. Approximately 80% of Myanmar's foreign trade is done through sea-borne trade and its border trade is conducted with neighbouring countries -- China, Thailand, India and Bangladesh, respectively. From Oc. 1, 2019 to Feb. 14 of this FY, the country's foreign trade totalled over US$14.5bil with over US$6.76bil in export and US7.77bil in import..."
Source/publisher: "The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-23
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Title: Myanmar exports over 32,000 tons of rice in first week of Feb
Description: "Myanmar exported about 12,000 tons of rice to Asia, about 6,000 tons of rice to European Union (EU) and over 14,000 tons of rice to Africa between February 2 and 8, according to the Ministry of Commerce. It exported over 32,000 tons of rice worth US$10.021 million through maritime trade. It is less than over 1,500 tons of rice compared with last week's export. Myanmar exported about 1,200 tons of broken rice to Asia, over 9,100 tons of broken rice to the EU, about 3,200 tons of broken rice to Africa, 250 tons of broken rice to the United Arab Emirates and over 300 tons of Gibraltar in that period. It is more than 2,800 tons of broken rice compared with last week's export. Myanmar exported about 3,000 tons of rice worth US$0.821 million through border trade centers in Myanmar-China border from February 1 to 7. About 2,300 tons of rice is exported through Muse 105-mile trade center, about 270 tons of rice through Chinshwehaw border trade center and about 370 tons of rice through Lweje border trade center. It is more than 400 tons of rice compared with last week's export...."
Source/publisher: Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-22
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Title: Myanmar approves 12 local and foreign investment enterprises
Description: "Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) recently approved 12 investment enterprises from home and abroad, said a release from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) late Friday. The enterprises, which will create over 6,600 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens, were permitted at the commission's recent meeting. With investment capital of 501.9 million U.S. dollars and 73.4 billion kyats (48.9 million U.S. dollars), the permitted enterprises are engaged in the country's manufacturing, other services sectors and hotel sectors, respectively. As of Dec. 31, 2019, Singapore, China and Thailand were the leading investors in Myanmar. Meanwhile, oil and gas, power and manufacturing sectors were the top three sectors in the list with most foreign investments. From FY 1988-89 to Dec. 31 of FY 2019-20, the foreign investments in 1,909 permitted projects have reached over 83 billion U.S. dollars in the country..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-15
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Title: Myanmar earns over 907 mln USD from mineral export in 4 months
Description: "Myanmar earned over 907 million U.S. dollars from mineral export in the first four months of present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 which started in October, according to figures of the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday. This figure increased by 579 million U.S. dollars, compared to the same period of last FY 2018-2019 when it fetched over 328 million U.S. dollars. During the period, the mineral sector ranked the third place with most export value, following the manufacturing and agriculture sectors among other export. Meanwhile, the country's export value totaled over 6.1 billion U.S. dollars from Oct. 1, 2019 to Jan. 31, the ministry's figures said. Myanmar mainly exports agricultural products, animal products, marine products, minerals, forest products, manufacturing goods and others to foreign trade partner countries..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-13
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Title: Myanmar takes steps to improve trade strategies
Description: "Myanmar will take measures to ensure that overseas demand for locally made goods remains elevated even as cheaper imports from the region are expected to rise now that the country will participate further in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). This should also keep the country’s trade deficit, which was down to US$627 million in fiscal 2019-20 from US$5.2 billion in fiscal 2016-17, stable. Under AFTA, Myanmar is expected to substantially lower the import duties for a list of goods to as little as zero and no more than 5 percent. “Custom duties will be nearly zero due to AFTA and ASEAN countries are already taking advantage of the opportunity to export more goods to Myanmar. We have in place the Import Protection Law to ensure local manufacturers are not threatened,” said U Aung Htoo, deputy commerce minister. The Import Protection Law gives Myanmar the right to raise duties for a period of three years on imported goods that severely affect or threaten local manufacturer. The law also covers trade under AFTA, the Myanmar Times understands. Some traders have voiced their approval over the changing trade environment. Daw Yin Yin Moe, CEO of Hla Yin Moe, a textile and garment company, said that over the past five years her company was able to import industrial apparatus and machineries..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-13
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Title: Burma in the Balance: The Geopolitics of Gas
Description: "The energy security concerns of Thailand, India and China greatly determine their relations with Myanmar. In principle, India and China have pledged to cooperate in the field of energy security in order to avoid costly rivalries. In practice, however, commentators expect that the two oilimporting giants will find it more or less impossible to avoid such rivalries. In relation to Myanmar, this seems difficult indeed. The immediate issue is competition between India and China over building a pipeline to transport natural gas from Shwe, a gas field off the coast of Myanmar’s Arakan state. In March 2007, it became clear that China will further consolidate its ties with Myanmar by building a gas pipeline from the Burmese coast to Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province. India’s pipeline plans, negotiated for several years, were finally rejected by the Burmese regime. A South Korean offer to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Myanmar was also turned down. The Chinese plans include an oil pipeline as well, probably running parallel to the gas pipeline and intended to carry Persian Gulf crude oil shipped by tanker to a connecting Burmese port facility. This makes sense considering the oft-cited Chinese argument that an oil pipeline through Myanmar will enhance China’s energy security by serving as an alternative oil supply route bypassing the Strait of Malacca, a waterway of crucial importance for the provision of oil and other necessities to China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan..."
Source/publisher: "Strategic Analysis"
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-11
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Title: China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Strategy in Eurasia and Euro-Atlanticism
Description: "The focus of this article is two-pronged. First, it highlights China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiative as a Eurasia-centred project that, distinct from the twentieth-century Eurasianism, aims to introduce a new comprehensive integrationist agenda to the Eurasian strategic landscape. Second, it compares the US-led EuroAtlanticism and the emerging Eurasianism, holding that while the former has historically stressed security over development (development is seen as contingent on the establishment of a hard security regime), the latter prioritises development over security (security is viewed as contingent on the establishment of an inclusive economic regime). Thus, this research argues that, if implemented successfully, OBOR could challenge EuroAtlanticism as the long-held normative paradigm of interstate relations by offering a systemic alternative. EURASIANISM IS A CENTURY-OLD IDEA. EMERGING IN THE early 1920s and largely nurtured by the Russian immigrants settled in Europe, the concept, despite its various interpretations along different political and ideological lines, laid claim ‘to represent some unique synthesis of European and Asian principles’ (Bassin 2008, p. 281), defining Russia ‘not as a European and not as an Asian country; … as a third, special continent of Slav–Turkic cohabitation that bears the imprint of the great empires that have ruled over its expanses—from the Mongolian to the Russian’ (Laruelle 2009, p. 94).1 Although the Eurasian doctrine did not assume itself as a unified ideology but rather evolved into a multitude of different forms (Laruelle 2015), early Eurasianism in general argued a particular geographic, linguistical, ethno-cultural, and philosophical identity for Russia distinct from both Europe and Asia (Shlapentokh 1997, pp. 130–31; Senderov 2009, p. 25; Mileski 2015, pp. 177–79). However, despite the fact that early Eurasianist thought envisioned a unique political and philosophical space for Russia, it also ‘developed a positive but general discourse about the Orient’, holding that ‘Russia should be closer to Asia than to Europe’ (Laruelle 2004, p. 116). During the Cold War, under the weight of deep ideological confrontation with the West, the Eurasianist thought took a further Orientalist inclination, emphasising cultural and ideological differences from Europe (Von Hagen 2004, p. 450). Especially with the emergence of NATO and the expansion of US- and Soviet-led camps ‘beyond the original arenas of Europe and Asia’, the militarised This research was sponsored by the International Postdoctoral Exchange Programme of Shandong University..."
Source/publisher: Europe-Asia Studies via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-10
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Title: OBOR China’s Grand Strategy for the 21st century
Description: "The “New Silk Road”, also known as the “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is a development strategy proposed by China, which aims to foster the economic cooperation and connectivity mostly between Eurasian countries. 1 The initiative is named after the “Silk Road”, an ancient route of 6,437 kilometer in length, that dates back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and used to connect regions of East Asia with the Middle East and Europe, prospering numerous Eurasian civilizations for centuries.2 Therefore, with the implementation of the “New Silk Road” strategy, China aims to revive the 2.000-year-old network by investing on some serious infrastructure projects throughout the whole route, that largely resembles the legendary “Silk Road”. The promotion of regional economic development, the economic benefits for the countries involved and the tightening of the cultural ties of the participants, are the main goals of the OBOR initiative, in other words, OBOR is based on a win-win development strategy for the countries that are located throughout the path of the “New Silk Road”.3 The first signs of OBOR were brought to the surface during the Olympics of 2008. However, China’s ambitious plan was first stated on 2013, by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, the 5th president of China. The OBOR project consist of two different “routes”, one land route and a maritime one, that both begin and end in China’s territory. The first route (Silk Road Economic Belt) begins from Xi’an in Central China and leads to Northern Europe up to Rotterdam (busiest port in Europe), coming all the way from Central Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia and the center of Europe. On the other hand, the maritime route (the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) connects the Mediterranean Sea with the South China Sea, in a long route that comes through the Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean, the Malacca strait, etc. It is estimated that approximately 65-70 countries and a total of 4,4 billion people (as much as the 60% of global population) will benefit from the participation in the OBOR project that will require at least 30-35 years to be completed..."
Source/publisher: KEDISA via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-10
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Title: French businessmen eyeing investment in Myanmar
Description: "French business people interested in Myanmar called on State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on February 5, the State Counsellor Office reported. The State Counsellor received the MEDEF International business delegation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nay Pyi Taw.. The meeting was also attended by Union Minister for Planning, Finance and Industry Soe Win, Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Thaung Tun, Union Minister for International Cooperation Kyaw Tin and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. The MEDEF International is a non-profit organization representing French business confederation. The visiting French business delegation comprised 28 members from French international companies eying investment in Myanmar, the State Counsellor Office reported..."
Source/publisher: "The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-08
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Title: Myanmar earns US$300 M from over 1 M tons of rice export
Description: "Myanmar earned US$300.366 million from 1.047 million tons of rice and broken rice exports from October 1 to January 17 in this fiscal year, according to Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF). It earned about US$220 million from over seven million tons of rice export to 56 countries in that period and over US$80 million from over 300,000 tons of broken rice export in the same period, it said. It earned over US$39 million from over 150,000 tons of rice and broken rice exports through border routes in that period. It is over 14 per cent of total rice and broken rice exports. It earned over US$260 million from over 890,000 tons of rice and broken rice exports through maritime routes in that period. They are over 14 and 85 per cents of total rice and broken rice exports respectively. Myanmar exported 2.355 million tons of rice and broken rice and earned US$709.693 million in 2018-19 FY, announced the MRF. Myanmar is using border trade routes and maritime trade routes to export rice and broken rice exports..."
Source/publisher: Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-07
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Title: Local liquor makers struggle against illegal imports
Sub-title: Local liquor manufacturers are struggling to stay profitable as competition from illegal importers continues eat into their margins, said U Soe Lwin, chair of The Myanmar Liquor Association (MLA). Legally imported liquors and spirits like whiskeys, rum and gin are taxed upon entry and this is passed on to consumers.
Description: "“The total tax payable for our industry has increased to K200 billion for the 2019-20 year of assessment. The amount of taxes paid by this industry is rising by 25 percent to 30pc every year,” said U Htay Lwin, general secretary of the MLA. Illegal distributors, however, escape taxes and are able to sell liquor at lower prices in the black market. Imports of spirits are tightly restricted in Myanmar and it wasn’t until late 2015 that permitted the import of wines was permitted. However, only hotels and duty-free outlets have been allowed to import spirits and beer thus far. This has led to the proliferation of illegal imports, mostly at the border. The government is in the process of enacting laws intended to relax Myanmar’s existing ban on alcohol imports. Work on a draft legislation has moved to the attorney general for approval, after which it would be presented to the cabinet, according to the commerce ministry. U Win Thaw, a secretary of the MLA, said the main problem with the impending relaxation of the new import policy is that it does not address the black market situation where alcohol is smuggled through our borders without being taxed. He added that the legislation should not only formalise, but level the playing field between local producers and foreign liquor importers. Locally produced liquor brands include High Class, Glan Master and Grand Royal whiskies as well as Mandalay Rum..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
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Title: Millions invested as NTT commits to Myanmar
Sub-title: Tech giant establishes affiliate company with investments to improve telco infrastructure
Description: "NTT Myanmar is officially in business following a multimillion-dollar capital investment, a new wholesale government licence and the opening of an office in Yangon. Operating as an affiliate company of NTT, the technology provider has secured a business-to-business wholesale licence from The Ministry of Commerce to offer technology solutions and managed services to enterprise clients following a capital investment of US$5 million. This is backed by an investment of US$400 million - revealed in December 2019 - to commence the construction of a ‘MIST’ large-capacity submarine communications cable between Singapore, Myanmar and India (Mumbai and Chennai). The construction is part of a strategic joint venture for international submarine cables in Southeast Asia, with Orient Link, to improve data speed and reduce latency..."
Source/publisher: "Channel Asia" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-03
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Title: View: Why India needs to closely monitor the situation in Myanmar
Description: ""Paukphaw”, which literally means born together, implying not only a shared destiny but racial kinship, was reinforced through strong political and economic bonds between Myanmar and China last week. Xi Jinping became the first Chinese leader to visit Nay Pyi Taw on a hugely significant state visit ( January 17-18) since Jiang Zemin back in 2001. The event received not more than a modicum of interest here, but it could have a serious geopolitical impact on India. If India is concerned about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, it now has more reason to worry about CMEC (China-Myanmar Economic Corridor) that just moved from being a concept to reality. The CMEC is less about oil and gas — there are pipelines running through Myanmar already — and more about reducing dependence on the Malacca Straits and access to the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. The CMEC includes the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port in the troubled Rakhine state along with a special economic zone (SEZ), the China-Myanmar border economic zone (the two countries share a 2,200 km-long border) and the newly announced Yangon urban development project (which is still at MoU stage)..."
Source/publisher: "The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-02
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Title: Business groups voice opposition to Myanmar govt′s car plan
Summary: "Representatives of the British Chamber of Myanmar, European Chamber of Myanmar, Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Myanmar, EuroCham Myanmar Automotive Advocacy Group and AAM held a joint...
Description: "Representatives of the British Chamber of Myanmar, European Chamber of Myanmar, Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Myanmar, EuroCham Myanmar Automotive Advocacy Group and AAM held a joint press conference on the issue yesterday in Yangon. On January 2, the Ministry of Commerce announced that senior government officials, such as directors general, deputy directors general, and those with a minimum of 25 years of excellent service, would be given import permits for vehicles as rewards for their work. The vehicles approved for import would be determined by the ministry on a yearly basis and would be allowed into the country directly without going through a showroom or car dealership. “If the government goes ahead with this plan, it will affect the whole automotive industry greatly. The image of the industry in Myanmar, which is heavily dependent on foreign investment, will not be good,” said Mr Peter Beynon, chair of the British Chamber of Commerce Myanmar. Following the announcement of the plan, the AAM wrote to the Ministry of Commerce asking that the plan be reviewed or shelved. The AAM said the plan would raise feelings on unfairness among people who have to pay taxes to the government for the cars they buy through ordinary channels and also cause price instability in the local car market. The AAM further stated that the plan would damage companies assembling vehicles for sale in the local market, and car sales centres owned by local companies..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
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Title: Myanmar sets investment priorities for all states, regions in the country
Sub-title: The Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations this month announced tax exemptions for investments in selected sectors in all 14 states and regions in Myanmar and the Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory.
Description: "The key investment sectors in Myanmar’s states and regions are mainly agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure. Now, the government is expanding the areas of investment for businesses to five priority sectors and streamlining the process in the states and regions. The top five priority investment sectors in Chin State are hotels and tourism, power, agriculture and its related services, livestock production and breeding, and urban development and industrial zone. Any investment in these sectors qualifies for seven years of tax exemption. “Some projects which generate above 30 MW of electricity are progressing with negotiations ongoing between the Ministry of Electricity and Energy and investors,’’ U Soe Htet, the Minister for Chin State Development Affairs, Electricity and Industry, told The Myanmar Times. Chin State has only two investment projects and ranks lowest where investment in this country is concerned. The top five priority investment sectors in Kayah State are hotels and tourism, agriculture and its related services, manufacturing, power, and mining..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
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Title: Banks need to take Belt and Road environmental risks seriously
Sub-title: China’s banks supporting BRI projects should apply environmental risk-management policies and oversight, says Divya Narain
Description: "China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is intended to catalyse the economies of countries around the globe. Yet BRI projects overlap some of the most ecologically fragile places on earth. The multi-trillion-dollar initiative – to build transcontinental networks of roads, railways and ports, studded with dams, mines, power plants, and solar and wind farms – has its environmental impacts. These include air and water pollution, soil contamination and erosion, habitat and wildlife loss. For project developers and funders, failure to address these impacts can translate into regulatory and reputational risks. So they need to take mitigation seriously. Risks confronting developers can include penalties, legal action and backlash from communities causing project delays and even closures. According to a 2018 study, 14% of BRI projects in 66 countries have faced some kind of local pushback..."
Source/publisher: "Chinadialogue" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-31
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Title: Myanmar attracts nearly 2 bln USD foreign investments in 1st quarter of FY 2019-20
Description: " Myanmar attracted investment capital of over 1.83 billion U.S. dollars from permitted foreign enterprises in first quarter of present fiscal year 2019-2020 which started in October last year, said a release issued by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Tuesday. From Oct. 1, 2019 to Jan. 24 of this FY, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) gave the nod to 100 foreign enterprises. At a recent meeting of the commission earlier this month, a total of 23 foreign enterprises with investment capital of over 433.8 million U.S. dollars were approved by the MIC. Creating 11,951 local employment opportunities, the investments from the recently approved enterprises entered the country’s power, real estate, livestock and fisheries and manufacturing sectors, respectively. Meanwhile, the MIC gave the green light to 39 Myanmar citizen investment enterprises with over 647.6 billion kyats (431.7 million U.S. dollars) as of Jan. 24 in present FY 2019-2020..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-29
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Title: India worried as China-Myanmar deepen ties
Sub-title: The pacts were signed during president Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Myanmar, a first by a Chinese president in almost two decades...This will give a significant push to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to which Myanmar had signed onto in 2018 amid lack of investments from western countries.
Description: "China and Myanmar, over the weekend, signed 33 bilateral agreements that are expected to strengthen ties between India’s eastern neighbor and Beijing. The accords include those to construct a rail link and a deep-sea port – part of a China-Myanmar-Economic Corridor – that runs from China’s south-western region to the Bay of Bengal. This will give a significant push to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to which Myanmar had signed onto in 2018 amid lack of investments from western countries. The pacts were signed during president Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Myanmar, a first by a Chinese president in almost two decades. Xi’s visit to Myanmar was also his first abroad in the 2020 calendar year. The pacts were signed against the backdrop of Myanmar State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi coming under increasing pressure from Western countries over its crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. A Myanmar military campaign in 2017-18 caused some 730,000 Rohingyas from Rakhine state to flee to Bangladesh. In December, Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi defended her country’s human rights record vis a vis the Rohingyas at a hearing at the Hague-based International Court of Justice and a ruling in expected this month..."
Source/publisher: "livemint" (New Delhi)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-20
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Title: Can Xi Jinping’s visit help China cash in on Myanmar’s image crisis?
Sub-title: Chinese president’s two-day trip comes as nations mark 70 years of diplomatic ties...US sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders over alleged ‘serious human rights abuses’ described as a blow to Southeast Asian nation’s dignity.
Description: "Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar this week is special in several ways. It is Xi’s first overseas trip of the year and the first visit to the Southeast Asian country by a Chinese president since 2001. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries. A recent Xinhua commentary said that “a good neighbour is better than a far dwelling relative”, referring to China’s ties with Myanmar. Some observers view geopolitics concerning Myanmar in black-and-white terms: a National League for Democracy (NLD) government would lead to closer ties with the West and less so with China. The Rakhine issue effectively put paid to such earlier prognosis. If anything, there has yet to be any respite to the general downturn in relations between Myanmar and the West. In fact, the situation has worsened. Following a round of sanctions by Western powers in 2018, the US treasury department last month imposed new sanctions against Myanmar’s top military leaders over alleged “serious human rights abuses”, a move that Myanmar’s military (the Tatmadaw) criticised as “targeted political pressure” which “hurt the dignity” of the military. A month earlier, the Tatmadaw was accused by the US of possessing chemical weapons..."
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
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Title: Prospects for Myanmar’s development and governance
Description: "Myanmar’s efforts to reverse a legacy of isolation began with the quasi-civilian government led by then-president U Thein Sein. From 2011–2015, his government undertook a series of political, economic and social reforms that built the foundation for future democratic development. Key reform initiatives under his administration included renewed engagement with ethnic armed forces, a relaxation of press censorship, liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, increased autonomy of the Central Bank of Myanmar and improvement of the budgetary and taxation system. The government also attempted to improve private sector development by reducing red tape to ease business costs and attract foreign investment. During U Thein Sein’s presidential term, Myanmar became one of the fastest growing economies in ASEAN, with an average growth rate of 7.3 per cent. The country also achieved the Human Development Index’s medium-ranked member status. Major challenges remain despite these positive developments: land disputes, informal settlements in cities, inadequate basic infrastructure and most importantly an unstable political situation due to conflict in Rakhine, Shan and Kachin states. The political landscape of Myanmar changed dramatically after the second general election in 2015 when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a majority of seats in the people’s parliament, national parliaments and sub-national parliaments. The new government was immediately confronted by existing and new challenges. A few months before the elections, 12 out of 14 regions and states were affected by flooding that damaged 1.9 million acres of farmland causing the price of rice to increase. A 20 per cent drop in net inflow of FDI and a growth rate sinking to 5.9 per cent (from the average 7.3 per cent growth rate of president U Thein Sein’s administration) also made 2016 a difficult year for the new government..."
Source/publisher: "East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-18
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Title: REPORTSMyanmar’s Growth Resilient Despite Global Slowdown
Description: "Myanmar’s economy continues to show resilience despite the ongoing global slowdown and domestic uncertainties, according to a new World Bank report released today. The Myanmar Economic Monitor for December 2019 estimates that Myanmar’s economy grew at 6.3 percent in 2018-19, marginally higher than 6.2 percent in 2017-18. Economic growth is expected to reach 6.4 percent in 2019-20, helped by growing investment in the transport and telecommunications sector and planned infrastructure spending by the government before the 2020 elections. The service sector is the main driver of growth in Myanmar and is expected to grow by 8.4 percent in 2018-19. A slow recovery in tourism related services is offset by robust growth in wholesale and retail trade. The industrial sector is expected to grow by 6.4 percent, on the back of strong manufacturing growth offsetting slower growth in construction. Despite seasonal floods and volatile demand, agriculture output growth is projected to be stable at 1.6 percent, with greater diversification in production and export destinations, but remains below potential..."
Source/publisher: "Modern Diplomacy"
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-18
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Title: Myanmar exports 30,000 tons of rice through maritime trade within a week
Description: "Myanmar exported about 30,000 tons of rice worth US$8.8 million through maritime trade from December 22 to 27, according to figures from Ministry of Commerce. About 8,000 tons of rice is exported to Asian countries and about 3,000 tons of rice is exported to EU countries. About 18,000 tons of rice is exported to African countries and 25 tons of rice is exported to a new market, Puerto Rico. It exported about US$2 million worth of over 6,600 tons of rice to China and Thailand via border trade centers, according to the ministry. Myanmar exported over 3,500 tons of rice from Muse 105-mile border trade center, about 600 tons of rice from Chinshwehaw border trade center, about 1,400 tons of rice from Lweje border trade center, about 80 tons of rice from Kanpikete border trade center and more than 1,100 tons of rice from Techilek border trade center..."
Source/publisher: Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-14
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Title: U.S. Government Will Limit Exports of Artificial Intelligence
Description: "The U.S. government will take steps next week to limit the export of artificial intelligence (AI) software. The decision by the Trump administration comes at a time when powerful rival nations, such as China, are becoming increasingly dominant in the field. The move is meant to keep certain sensitive technologies from falling into the hands of those nations. The new rule goes into effect on January 6, 2020, and it will be aimed at certain companies that export geospatial imagery software from the United States. Those companies will be required to apply for a license to export it. The only exception is that a license will not be required to export to Canada. The new measure was the first of its kind to be finalized by the Commerce Department under a mandate from a 2018 law passed by Congress. That law updated arms controls to include emerging technology. The new rules will likely have an effect on a growing part of the tech industry. These algorithms are currently being used in order to analyze satellite images of crops, trade patterns and other changes within the economy and environment. Chinese companies are responsible for having exported artificial intelligence surveillance technology to over 60 countries. Some of those countries have dismal human rights records and include Iran, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe..."
Source/publisher: "Unite.ai"
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-13
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Title: Understanding China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Northern Laos through the Prism of Continuity
Description: "Upon his visit to Laos in November 2017, Xi Jinping wrote in an open letter, published in English and Lao in Laotian mainstream media, that “there is a high degree of complementarity between China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the strategy of Laos to transform itself from a landlocked to a land-linked country.” He further described the China-Laos Railway, the flagship of the BRI in Laos, as "(t)he transportation artillery that will drive the development of Laos (and that) is a dream coming true.” These lines point to two central features of China’s BRI. One is its embracing of the “Chinese Dream”, already extended as China’s “Asia-Pacific Dream”; the second is, more importantly, its discursive power of scripting China’s geopolitical and economic interests in the rhetoric of its partners’ national development strategies. As the land-linked strategy has been already advertised by the Laotian government for more than two decades, the BRI in Laos is, rather than breaking new ground, an intensified and accelerated continuation of already existing development strategies and policies..."
Source/publisher: "The Business Times" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-13
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Title: Chinese money, US human rights: in Myanmar’s Kachin State, a delicate balance
Sub-title: Far from the front lines of the US-China trade war, the resource-rich Kachin is the scene of a familiar struggle for influence between the two superpowers...China has invested heavily, but for some locals development has come at a cost
Description: "While the US-China trade war plays to the audience on the global stage, behind the scenes the two superpowers are engaged in a unique tug of war for influence in one of the world’s more remote corners. Myitkyina, the capital of Myanmar’s Kachin State about 1,200km north of Yangon, rarely features on tourist bucket lists. Despite its verdant scenery and dynamic culture and traditions, it suffers from high rates of poverty and drug addiction, and has been the scene of a conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar military which has displaced an estimated 100,000 people since a 17-year ceasefire collapsed in 2011. Yet recently not one, but two high-profile visitors arrived in the space of just days. US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel and a delegation from the US Embassy held a Myitkyina Road Show in November that included a jobs and opportunities fair, a workshop with the agricultural sector, and a meeting with veterans who fought alongside US troops in World War II. Marciel said the embassy wanted to work with the Kachin people “in support of freedom, democracy, human rights and economic progress”, and that the US was “committed to implementing development programmes in an open, transparent manner … to listen and learn”..."
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-12
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Title: Obstacles to Myanmar’s growth in 2020
Summary: "The ASEAN Post recently published an article on whether 2020 will be a good year for Myanmar’s economy. That article noted that the ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) had given Myanmar’s...
Description: "The ASEAN Post recently published an article on whether 2020 will be a good year for Myanmar’s economy. That article noted that the ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) had given Myanmar’s economy a positive outlook for the fiscal year of 2019 to 2020; expecting it to expand by 7.1 percent up from 6.8 percent in the previous fiscal year. However, there may be some events that could act as obstacles to this growth. The positive outlook is largely thanks to reform momentum, improving business sentiments, growth in manufacturing, tourism related expansion and stronger fiscal spending. According to AMRO, the five key sectors with growth potential in Myanmar this year are (1) the tourism industry, (2) property, (3) insurance, (4) digital transactions and (5) the stock exchange business. However, according to reports, economists have noted that the downside is the ongoing Rakhine crisis as well as the lawsuit filed against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by Gambia, which could tarnish the country’s image as an investment destination. One of the five key growth sectors this could clearly impact is the tourism industry. Myanmar has taken several measures to attract tourists. Among these measures are relaxed visa requirements. Aside from that, there have also been a slew of new flight routes coming in and out of Myanmar and neighbouring countries including India, China, Cambodia, and Thailand all throughout last year..."
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-12
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Title: Rice export earnings exceed $250 in three months
Description: "During three months of the current fiscal year, Myanmar earned over 250 million US dollars from the exports of around 900,000 tons of rice and broken rice, according to Myanmar Rice Federation. Till December 27 of 2019-20 FY, Myanmar exported 894,889.703 tons of rice and broken rice worth 256.452 million US dollars. During this period, Myanmar exported over 600,000 tons of rice worth over 180 million US dollars to 53 countries and around 290,000 tons of broken rice worth over 75 million US dollars, to 45 countries. Myanmar exports rice to the EU and Africa via sea route and China via Muse border trade. During three months, Myanmar earned over 34 million US dollars from exports of over 130,000 tons of rice and broken rice via border trade. Border trade accounted for 15 per cent of the total rice export. Myanmar earned over 220 million US dollars from exports of over 760,000 tons of rice and broken rice via sea route. It made up over 85 per cent of the total rice export. In 2018-19 FY, Myanmar earned 709.693 million US dollars from exports of 2.355 tons of rice and broken rice, according to the MRF. In 2017-18 FY, Myanmar’s rice exports reached a record high within over 50 years, with the exports of nearly 3.6 million tons of rice and broken rice..."
Source/publisher: Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-12
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Title: Bridging the Belt and Road Divide
Description: "The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s scheme to boost global connectivity and market integration principally through the export of its infrastructure development capabilities, is redefining Southeast Asia’s economic and security environment. Although the BRI risks the usual pathologies of large-scale infrastructure development—corruption, environmental degradation, social instability, and debt—it also promises an array of economic benefits to the region’s diverse economies, not least by addressing the region’s massive infrastructure deficit and potentially jump-starting industrialization in less developed countries there. Over the first five years of the initiative, more than $500 billion in BRI-related capital has flowed into Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam alone. Much of this capital comes from Chinese sources for developing transportation links. These links, like the pan-Asia railway network, will connect to Chinese cities—one of the many ways the BRI is weaving the Chinese and regional economies and societies together..."
Source/publisher: "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
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Title: Myanmar approves six more local, foreign investment enterprises
Description: "Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) recently approved six more investment enterprises from both home and abroad, said a release from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Saturday. The enterprises, which will create over 1,300 local employment opportunities, were given the go-ahead at the commission's meeting held on Friday. With investment capital of 257.8 million U.S. dollars and 60.2 billion kyats (40.1 million U.S. dollars), the permitted enterprises engaged in the country's power, manufacturing, hotel and other services sectors, respectively. Meanwhile, the commission approved 39 foreign enterprises with investment capital of over 1 billion U.S. dollars in first two months of present fiscal year 2019-2020 which started in October, the DICA's figures said..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
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Title: The top-10 events that shaped Myanmar’s economy in 2019
Sub-title: Myanmar witnessed an economic slowdown in fiscal 2019, with GDP growth downgraded to 6.5 percent from 6.8pc in 2018, and foreign direct investments (FDI) hitting just 70pc of official targets. The economy also took a hit from slowing global growth and uncertainty arising from the trade war between China and the US.
Description: "But the Myanmar government also took progressive measures to boost the economy. It led further liberalisation in various sectors of the economy and took steps to address the country’s power shortage. It also announced new tax reductions and reliefs aimed at boosting state coffers and economic activity, garnering applause from the business community. During the year, the government took efforts to attract FDI in spite of the ongoing Rakhine crisis and lawsuit filed against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice by Gambia, which tarnished the country’s image as an investment destination. Among them were a string of investment forums held in the states and regions, which were aimed at drawing investors to rural areas like Rakhine and Chin. Here are the top ten events in business and investments that shaped the Myanmar economy in 2019: 1. Insurance sector liberalised Five insurance firms – British Prudential, Japanese Dai-ichi Life, Hong Kong AIA, US Chubb and Canadian Manulife – finally received licenses to operate in Myanmar in late November after a two-year delay. In addition, six insurance JVs of foreign and local firms also received the green light. The three JVs for non-life insurance are AYA Myanmar General Insurance and Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance; Grand Guardian General Insurance and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance; and IKBZ Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
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Title: Myanmar earns over 2 bln USD from manufacturing exports in 3 months
Description: " Myanmar earned over 2.49 billion U.S. dollars from export of finished industrial goods in the first three months of present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 which started in October, according to figures from the Commerce Ministry on Thursday. As of Dec. 27 of this FY, the export of finished industrial goods or manufacturing goods export topped the list among other export products. This FY's figures increased by over 718.5 million U.S. dollars, compared to the same period of last FY 2018-2019 when it fetched over 1.77 billion U.S. dollars. Myanmar mainly exports agricultural products, animal products, marine products, minerals, forest products, manufacturing goods and others to foreign trade partner countries. During the period, the country's export totaled over 4.56 billion U.S. dollars while its import shared over 4.57 billion U.S. dollars, the ministry's figures said..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-10
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Title: Up to 10 wells for ultra-deepwater Myanmar gas tieback
Sub-title: Total/Woodside Energy’s block A-6 project in the Rakhine basin offshore Myanmar will be the country’s first ultra-deepwater development.
Description: "Total/Woodside Energy’s block A-6 project in the Rakhine basin offshore Myanmar will be the country’s first ultra-deepwater development. The block covers an area close to 10,000 sq km (3,861 sq mi) in water depths of up to 2,300 m (7,546 ft). Woodside has a 40% interest in the joint venture and is the technical joint operator for exploration and appraisal operations. MPRL E&P with 20% is also a joint operator. Total, which has a 40% interest, will assume operatorship during the development phase. According to Woodside, the partners aim to start front-end engineering design during the second half of this year. Since 2018 when the Shwe Yee Htun-2 discovery well delivered 40 m (131 ft) of net gas pay, five more wells have been drilled, all encountering gas. Woodside estimates the combined resource at 67 MMboe..."
Source/publisher: "Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine"
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-10
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Title: Myanmar has potential investments from ASEAN countries in 2019-20 FY
Description: "Myanmar has potential investments from Hong Kong and ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Thailand in 2019-20 FY, according to the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. Among ASEAN countries, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos made investments in Myanmar. A total of 50 countries invested in 1,876 businesses in 12 sectors from 1988 to November 2019 and the total investment is about US$83 billion. In that period, the investment amount of nine ASEAN countries is over US$38 billion and it is over 46 per cent of total foreign investment. The investment amount of ASEAN countries are as per following: over US$22 billion from Singapore, over 11 billion from Thailand, over 2 billion from Vietnam, about 2 billion from Malaysia, over US$270 million from Indonesia, about US$150 million from Philippines, over US$120 million from Brunei, over US$24 million from Cambodia and about one million from Laos..."
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-09
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Title: China's Challenge to America’s Political and Economic Liberal Order
Sub-title: American apathy in world affairs may be the silver bullet that hands-off systemic leadership to the Chinese. With growing structural capacities, China is able to propagate a new means of conducting world politics, one of a distinctly authoritarian variant.
Description: "China’s successful economic and geopolitical rise has positioned Beijing to push an agenda that is antithetical to America’s political and economic liberal order. China is no longer a rising power, but rather a peer competitor with the United States fighting to maximize security and global clout. Meanwhile, the United States remains distracted by domestic political polarization and protracted foreign wars. What does this lack of American engagement and increasing Chinese ambition mean for the global order? This is not another piece on America’s “lost hegemony.” Instead, it is representative of aggressive Chinese ambition and coercive economic diplomacy. Perhaps a more relevant scenario to explore would be: if China rolled tanks into Hong Kong tomorrow to quell the persisting pro-democracy demonstrations, how would the international community react? Would the United States be able to draw a red line for China?..."
Source/publisher: "The National Interest" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-08
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Title: Myanmar earns over 39 mln USD from gems, jade sale event
Description: "Myanmar earned over 59.4 billion kyats (39.6 million U.S. dollars) from a gems and jade sale event which was concluded on Tuesday, an official of Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE) told media. The gems and jade sale event, kicked off in capital city Nay Pyi Taw on Jan. 2, was organized by the Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. A total of 3,491 jade lots and nine gem lots were sold at the event, with 2,023 merchants in attendance, said General Manager Thet Khaing. All 25 state-owned jade lots were sold out at the event and fetched about 450 million kyats (300,000 U.S. dollars), he added. The last gems and jade sale, which was held in June 2019, fetched 60.89 billion kyats (40.6 million U.S. dollars) from the sale of 49 gems lots and 3,011 jade lots, with 2,010 local merchants in attendance..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-08
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Title: Myanmar economy to grow in 2020 amidst elections concerns
Description: "ECONOMIC growth in Myanmar may be held back by uncertainty ahead of the 2020 elections, the International Monetary Fund revealed. Foreign direct investment inflows and project approvals, it warns, remain lower than in recent years because large projects have been completed and foreign investors remain cautious ahead of the polls scheduled next year. The IMF, after the annual Article IV consultations in the country, however, sees the economy continuing to grow steadily, according to The Myanmar Times. “For 2019-20, growth is expected to be broadly stable, with higher government spending largely offset by pre-election uncertainty and weaker private demand,” the fund said in a statement. It, however, reiterated warnings made last April that “risks are tilted to the downside” and cited concerns over fallout from the Rakhine crisis and weaknesses in the banking sector. "On the domestic front, growth could underperform if fiscal spending does not accelerate sufficiently. Delayed restructuring and recapitalisation of the banking system could increase systemic risks with large macro financial spillovers. "A deterioration of the security situation and continued humanitarian issues in Rakhine could weigh on sentiment,” the IMF said in the statement issued following a visit by its team of economists..."
Source/publisher: "New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-08
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Title: Myanmar’s economy to shine in 2020?
Summary: "It was reported recently that the ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) had given Myanmar’s economy a positive outlook for the fiscal year of 2019 to 2020, expecting it to expand by 7.1...
Description: "It was reported recently that the ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) had given Myanmar’s economy a positive outlook for the fiscal year of 2019 to 2020, expecting it to expand by 7.1 percent up from 6.8 percent in the previous fiscal year. This is largely thanks to reform momentum, improving business sentiments, growth in manufacturing, tourism related expansion and stronger fiscal spending. According to AMRO, the five key sectors with growth potential in Myanmar this year are (1) the tourism industry, (2) property, (3) insurance, (4) digital transactions and (5) the stock exchange business. Looking at the tourism industry, several measures have been taken to attract tourists. Among these measures is the easing up on visa requirements. Beginning 1 October last year, tourists from Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Russia were given visas on arrival for US$50 each at Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw international airports. Even more recently, on 1 January, the government of Myanmar relaxed its visa regulations for five more countries. Travellers from the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Hungary and Austria will be given visas on arrival when entering the country for the next three years. There have also been a slew of new flight routes coming in and out of Myanmar and neighbouring countries including India, China, Cambodia, and Thailand all throughout 2019..."
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-08
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Title: Can the Belt and Road Help Countries Replicate China’s Development Successes?
Sub-title: Ironically, the solutions proposed by the BRI contradict China’s own development model.
Description: "China’s top leaders have recently begun to tout China’s own development success as an example for others to replicate. Former Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs He Yafei, for example, has claimed that “the success of the ‘Chinese model’ … offers other developing countries an option different from the ‘American model’ for economic development.” In his address to the 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress in October 2017, President Xi Jinping argued that China’s successful development experience was “blazing a new trail for other developing countries to achieve modernization.” China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013, is commonly viewed as the primary vehicle for promoting a China model of development. Encompassing 123 countries, the BRI commits China to provide $1 trillion in financing over the next decade for hundreds of infrastructure projects – roads, railways, ports, pipelines, electrical grids, and energy plants – designed to connect both land and maritime networks stretching from Southeast Asia to Europe..."
Source/publisher: "The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-06
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Title: The Investment War with China: Assessing American Pressure
Sub-title: Part two of this series looks at American pressure on Chinese outward foreign direct investment.
Description: "The United States has long been concerned about Chinese outward foreign direct investment (COFDI). Even so, U.S. angst has reached new heights during President Donald Trump’s tenure in office. Under his administration, the United States has launched a three-pronged war against COFDI. The first prong entails a harsher environment for COFDI in the United States. The second encompasses maneuvers against COFDI overseas. And the third involves steps to disrupt the progress of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The first prong has been primarily evidenced by the expansion of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)’s role in reviewing FDI. It has been reflected, too, by the 2018 passage of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRMMA). Notably, FIRMMA changed the ownership standard triggering CFIUS reviews from 10 percent of voting shares to one focused more on decision-making abilities/control and also expanded CFIUS’s ambit to cover FDI in critical infrastructure and real estate near sensitive locations like military bases. Recently, Congress passed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which hits COFDI in the United States directly by forbidding the use of federal funds to purchase rail cars and buses from Chinese-controlled firms. The White House has not publicly pilloried COFDI in the United States, but prominent members of the U.S. Congress continue to warn vociferously about its risks..."
Source/publisher: "The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-06
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Title: China factory activity slowed in December: Private sector survey
Sub-title: But manufacturing activity across Asia showed signs of recovery as recent survey data indicated growth in late 2019.
Description: "China's factory activity expanded at a slower clip in December, pulling back from a three-year high the previous month as new orders softened, a private survey showed on Thursday. But business confidence shot up amid thawing trade tensions with the United States, offering some support for the cooling economy. Beijing and Washington agreed last month on an initial deal that will de-escalate their prolonged trade war. More: Date set for US-China trade deal sends world markets to new high Singapore slump: Economic growth falls in 2019 on trade woes Hong Kong economy to shrink in fourth quarter, says finance chief The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December eased to 51.5 from 51.8 the previous month missing analysts' expectations that the reading would hold steady. But it remained above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction for the fifth straight month..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-05
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Title: Japan to launch project to boost farm productivity in Myanmar
Description: "Japan will launch a 390 million yen ($3.6 million) project in May in Myanmar to boost irrigation and agricultural management as part of efforts to increase productivity and eradicate poverty in the Southeast Asian country. Development of the agriculture promotion system, the improvement of the rice value chain, among other things, will be conducted in six townships in the Shwebo district of the Sagaing region, home to some of the largest irrigated farmland in Myanmar. The Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Myanmar government signed an agreement for the project in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw last week. The two sides also aim to secure a stable water source by establishing a water management organization for farmers and improve profitably by obtaining a geographical indication tag for Shwebo Pawsan, a high-end variety of local rice. The project, designed to improve the income and management skills of farmers, runs from May 2020 to November 2024, according to JICA..."
Source/publisher: "Japan Today" (Japan)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-05
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Title: Myanmar economy expected to grow 7.1 per cent
Description: "The economy in Myanmar in the fiscal year of 2019-2020 was given a positive outlook by the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office. It is expected to expand by 7.1 per cent, up from 6.8 per cent in the previous fiscal year, buoyed by reform momentum, improving business sentiments, growth in manufacturing, tourism related expansion and stronger fiscal spending. Directorate of Investment and Company Administration director-general U Thant Sin Lwin said foreign direct investments was also expected to pick up and align with the government estimates for the fiscal year 2019-2020, according to the Myanmar Times. Business and economists said the downside is the ongoing Rakhine crisis and lawsuit filed against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice by Gambia, which could tarnish the country’s image as an investment destination. Myanmar is also expected to hold a general election in 2020, and many investors will wait and see how things unfold in the political economy before investing further in the country this year. This year, five key sectors with growth potentials are the tourism industry, property, insurance, digital transactions and the stock exchange business..."
Source/publisher: "New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-05
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Title: Myanmar exports rice worth over US$2 M from border trade centers
Description: "Myanmar exported over 9,000 tons of rice worth over US$2 million within two weeks, from December 14 to 20, through border trade centers in China and Thailand borders, announced the Ministry of Commerce. It exported over 5,500 tons of rice from Muse 105 mile border trade center, about 400 tons of rice from the Chinshwehaw border trade center, over 1,300 tons of rice from the Lweje border trade center and about 2,000 tons of rice from Techilek border trade center. Myanmar also exported over 40,000 tons of rice worth over US$12.5 million from December 15 to 21 via maritime trade routes. It exported about 16,000 tons of rice to Asia countries, about 5,700 tons of rice to EU countries and over 20,000 tons of rice to African countries. Myanmar earned over US$65 million from over 220,000 tons of rice and broken rice export about one month of this fiscal year and it earned US$21 million more in compared with the same period in the last fiscal year, said Assistant Secretary Khin Maung Lwin of the ministry..."
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-05
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Title: Can Myanmar's Economy Fulfil its Potential?
Description: "With gross domestic product (GDP) growth consistently above 5 percent throughout this decade, and in double digits for much of the previous decade, Myanmar has been one of South East Asia’s fastest-growing economies for quite some time. What’s more, this newly liberalised nation is being touted to likely continue growing expeditiously well into the 2020s. That said, recent years have seen Myanmar’s growth showing a distinct sign of waning from its once lofty heights: Some believe this ongoing slowdown may continue over the next few years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), for instance, recently stated that Myanmar’s economy appears to be losing momentum. “Myanmar’s economy is expected to gain steam over the medium term albeit at a somewhat slower pace than previously envisaged and subject to greater downside risks” was the IMF Executive Board’s recent assessment. Part of the concern over Myanmar’s economic outlook is directed at the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, which came to power in 2016 after a thumping election victory put an end to decades of military rule. But since then, the NLD has come in for much criticism for the economy’s overall performance, as well as the slow pace at which reforms are being enacted that would enable Myanmar to make the full transition into a liberalised market economy. Perhaps the economic underperformance of recent years is understandable. After all, achieving peace in all regions of the nation continues to remain elusive, meaning that the government has been primarily focused on reconciliation before it can move ahead with other priorities, such as bringing about economic prosperity. Even today, tensions persist, not only between the NLD and the military but also between the military and armed ethnic groups in various parts of the country..."
Source/publisher: "International Banker"
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-16
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Title: Future of the Myanmar Defense Industry-Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2022
Description: "The Future of the Myanmar Defense Industry – Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2022, published by Strategic Defence Intelligence, provides readers with detailed analysis of both historic and forecast defense industry values, factors influencing demand, the challenges faced by industry participants, analysis of industry leading companies, and key news. This report offers detailed analysis of the Myanmar defense industry with market size forecasts covering the next five years. This report will also analyze factors that influence demand for the industry, key market trends, and challenges faced by industry participants. In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following – – The Myanmar defense industry market size and drivers: detailed analysis of the Myanmar defense industry during 2018-2022, including highlights of the demand drivers and growth stimulators for the industry. It also provides a snapshot of the country’s expenditure and modernization patterns – Budget allocation and key challenges: insights into procurement schedules formulated within the country and a breakdown of the defense budget. It also details the key challenges faced by defense market participants within the country – Porter’s Five Force analysis of the Myanmar defense industry: analysis of the market characteristics by determining the bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitution, intensity of rivalry, and barriers to entry – Import and Export Dynamics: analysis of prevalent trends in the country’s imports and exports over the last five years – Market opportunities: details of the top five defense investment opportunities over the next 10 years – Competitive landscape and strategic insights: analysis of the competitive landscape of the Myanmar defense industry. It provides an overview of key players, together with insights such as key alliances, strategic initiatives, and a brief financial analysis..."
Source/publisher: "Orbis" (New York) via "News Tribune" (Duluth)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-16
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Title: The gloom about Myanmar’s economy
Sub-title: Many problems can be sheeted home Aung San Suu Kyi – even if there are few critics willing to suggest alternatives.
Description: "Talking to business owners across a variety of sectors in Yangon in January this year, the mood was universally glum. Big-spending Western tourists were staying away in droves, concerned over human rights abuses. Bureaucratic red tape was clogging up business and investment, and the country remains a logistics nightmare. More than halfway through its five-year term, it is clear Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was chronically under-prepared for government and has strikingly failed to get a grip on the economy. Yet Myanmar’s increasingly troubled economy tends to get overlooked, amid the armed conflicts that could tear the country apart. In particular, headlines are dominated by the Rohingya tragedy that has seen more than 700,000 flee to Bangladesh, and the ongoing civil war across Kachin and Shan states in the north of the country. The World Bank, in its half-yearly update on Myanmar in December, cited softening consumption, slowing investment. and rising production-cost pressure from fuel price increases and the depreciation of the local currency, the Kyat, which has fallen by 16% against the US dollar in the past 12 months. Myanmar’s GDP growth is also forecast to fall, while almost every other measure of economic activity is also softening. The risks, the World Bank says, are all on the downside..."
Source/publisher: "The Interpreter"
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-16
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Title: Over 30,000 Myanmar migrant workers sent abroad in November
Description: "Myanmar authorities sent 30,841 migrant workers to work in foreign countries in November, according to a release from the Information Ministry on Friday. In November alone, 21,405 workers were sent to Thailand while 8,440 workers to Malaysia and 591 to Japan. Also, 230 workers were sent to South Korea, 83 to Jordan, 61 to Singapore, 24 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and seven to Qatar, respectively. During the period, a total of 24,268 local employments were also offered by the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population and of them, 23,943 workers engaged in private sector. The ministry has been offering local and foreign employment opportunities to local people through online labor exchange management system, with an aim to promote development of the country and help local people increase their incomes..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-14
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Title: China on mind, India set to hand over sub to Myanmar
Description: "In a big boost to bilateral defence cooperation, Myanmar is set to soon commission its first-ever submarine after it is formally handed over by India.The impending transfer of the Russian-origin INS Sindhuvir is part of India’s continuing policy to counter China’s strategic inroads into Myanmar. The 3,000-tonne INS Sindhuvir may be 31 years old but it has undergone regular refits in India and Russiak being undertaken on the diesel-electric boat at Hindustan Shipyard Limited in Visakhapatnam..."
Source/publisher: "The Times of India" (Oslo)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-09
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Title: Xi's Belt-Road Initiative: Recalibration, Strategic Imperatives
Description: "The second Belt-Road Forum (BRF) was held in Beijing from 25-27 April 2019. The three-day event was organized to promote the ‘Belt-Road Initiative’ (BRI) - President Xi Jinping’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure development and investment venture. The Summit was attended by 40 global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, China’s two closest allies. The gathering was larger than the first Summit held in 2017, which had just 29 participants. Among the new entrants were Austria, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Thailand. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte became the first G7 leader to join the BRI. India stayed out for the second time on grounds of sovereignty given that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) traverses through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). BRI has come under fire due to lack of transparency, weak institutional mechanism, scepticism about Chinese loans leading to debt trap, and poor environmental record. Besides, it is being perceived as an exclusive ‘Chinese Club’. With new deals aggregating US$ 64 billion signed and 283 concrete deliverable outcomes, despite criticism particularly from the US and its allies, the grand plan apparently remains on track and is gaining international traction. With a view to dispel growing concerns, the focus of this second Forum was on projecting BRI as an attractive investment destination. President Xi staunchly defended the Belt-Road, assuring its ‘win-win’ outcome..."
Source/publisher: "Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA)" (New Delhi)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-09
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Title: Xi’s Nepal Visit Reveals a Grander Chinese Himalayan Approach
Description: "Not long ago, Beijing’s perspective towards Nepal was limited to that of a ‘good neighbour’ only.1 Though the presence of about 20,000 Tibetans in Nepal has been an issue of major concern to Beijing, it has carefully managed its relations with Nepal which it sees as a strategic geographic zone in the Himalayan valley. The Chinese outlook seems to be changing fast as evident from the outcomes of President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Nepal on October 12-13, 2019. With growing emphasis on strengthening bilateral cooperation especially on building sub-regional connectivity,2 Beijing seems to be orchestrating a Himalayan approach in its relations with Kathmandu – revealing a grander Chinese policy in making. On the side-lines of his Nepal visit, President Xi’s article published in Nepali newspapers sketched a bigger Chinese ambition with a view to forge “strategic and long-term” cooperation between the two sides.3 Stressing on a ‘renewed friendship’, Xi’s article was a curtain raiser to the joint statement which outlined resolute Chinese goals to promote “trans-Himalayan multi-dimensional connectivity network” in the region. Such ambitions are not unusual in Chinese strategic calculus — a similar approach could be noticed in China’s interactions with other immediate neighbours such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar in particular. What is striking about China’s recent outreach to Nepal is its effort to transform the relationship into a comprehensive partnership, aiming to integrate with its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the Himalayan valley..."
Source/publisher: "Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA)" (New Delhi)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-09
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Title: Chinese Projects Under Belt & Road Initiative in Central Asia, Pakistan, Myanmar Projected to Lose Money: Report
Sub-title: For instance, the Kara-Balta oil refinery -- Kyrgyzstan's largest Chinese investment -- has faced significant problems with overcapacity in the recent years.
Description: "Chinese infrastructure projects under its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiatives in Central Asia, Pakistan and Myanmar are projected to lose money due to underutilisation and could potentially cause more harm than good, a prominent US think-tank said in a report on Thursday. In its latest report on China, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said India has expressed significant hesitation toward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China. Leaders in New Delhi opted out of both the 2017 and 2019 Belt and Road Forums. In addition to being generally skeptical of the BRI, one specific major concern is building of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through Kashmir, it said. Economic considerations further complicate these concerns, the CSIS said in its report. "BRI infrastructure projects in Central Asia, Pakistan and Myanmar are projected to lose money due to underutilisation and could potentially cause more harm than good, it said. For instance, the Kara-Balta oil refinery -- Kyrgyzstan's largest Chinese investment -- has faced significant problems with overcapacity in the recent years..."
Source/publisher: "News 18" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-08
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Title: The reforms behind Myanmar’s climb up the ease of doing business index
Description: "In an endorsement of ongoing efforts to reform the economy, Myanmar has been named one of the top-20 most-improved countries in the World Bank’s 2020 ease of doing business index. The index – part of the “Doing Business 2020” report – lists the economies that have recorded the greatest improvement in their ease of doing business score. The bank identified five recently implemented initiatives that have strengthened the business environment. In terms of regulatory and legal measures, the reforms cited include the City of Yangon’s decision to impose stricter qualification requirements for architects and engineers, along with a new companies law that strengthens minority investor protections and boosts transparency by mandating fuller disclosure of transactions. To streamline bureaucratic processes, the government, via the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, launched an online company registration platform, simultaneously digitising and merging several previously existing procedures..."
Source/publisher: "The Borneo Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-08
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Title: Myanmar admits foreign life insurers
Sub-title: AIA, Chubb and others hope for rich pickings in South-East Asia’s most populous mainland country
Description: "Ko phoe thar is a cheery 22-year-old liquor-store clerk from Mandalay, a city in central Myanmar. Death, and other less-certain future misfortunes, are far from his mind. A host of insurance companies newly arrived in the country would like to change that. Last week the finance ministry issued licences to foreign life insurers for the first time. Five—aia, Chubb, Dai-Ichi Life, Manulife and Prudential plc—have been permitted to operate as wholly owned subsidiaries. Others are required to find local partners. Foreign insurers have long licked their lips at the prospect of moving into Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "The Economist" (London)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-06
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Title: Expo held to boost Lancang-Mekong sub-regional trade and investment
Description: " The 2019 Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Exposition opened Thursday in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, aiming at boosting sub-regional trade and investment. More than 2,000 merchants from home and abroad are expected to attend the five-day event, which has set up 1,800 booths in five exhibition halls, covering investment and trade, culture and tourism, featured commodities of Lancang-Mekong countries and other areas. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Dianchi Forum was held on the same day, focusing on cross-border economic cooperation and the construction of a pilot free trade zone. It also consists of several parallel sessions including the China-Laos and China-Cambodia investment symposiums, according to the organizer. Lu Pengqi, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said such activities will help deepen economic and trade cooperation between Lancang-Mekong countries..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-05
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Title: The US-China trade war and Brexit don’t help, but behind sluggish global growth lies political gridlock
Description: "The US economy ended 2018 with a whimper and a 1.1 per cent annual rate of gross domestic product growth, and then started the first quarter of 2019 with a bang – 3.1 per cent growth. The economy has since settled back to 2 per cent or less, where it seems likely to linger unless major shocks occur. The world economy is slowing, too, but fears of an escalation in China-US trade tensions or a very disorderly Brexit have eased. Three cuts in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve, along with large liquidity injections to prevent disorderly short-term money markets, have helped keep the economy turning over, if not humming. Consumers keep spending, but business investment is sluggish. Monetary authorities have eased about as much as they can. Short and long interest rates in the United States are now zero in real terms – adjusted to remove the effects of inflation and reflect real borrowing costs and yield – and negative in nominal terms in much of Europe and Japan. A major question mark is China. It has not resorted to extremely expansionary credit growth or very large government deficits. Its economy is officially growing at about 6 per cent a year, but many outside experts suggest that the actual growth rate is 2 to 3 percentage points lower than that..."
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-01
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Title: Myanmar opens market to foreign insurers
Description: "British Prudential, Japanese Dai-ichi Life, Hong Kong AIA, US Chubb, and Canadian Manulife have been permitted to issue life insurance policies in Myanmar with their fully-owned subsidiary, more than six months after the five insurers were granted provisional licences. According to Prudential, Myanmar has a fast-growing middle class, as well as an increasingly urbanised and tech-savvy population. The country has around 57 million mobile subscriptions, with a mobile penetration of around 105%. The insurer will attempt to harness its wide-ranging digital capabilities and broad range of offerings in Asia, and implement a digital-led strategy, complemented by face-to-face distribution, to broaden access to life insurance in Myanmar, the insurer said in a statement. The department also granted licences to three life and three non-life joint ventures between foreign and local firms - AYA Myanmar General Insurance and Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance, Grand Guardian General Insurance and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, and IKBZ Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance..."
Source/publisher: "International Investment"
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-30
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Title: Assessing the Belt and Road Initiative
Sub-title: We should not play down the geopolitical consequences of the Chinese-led globalization that BRI v.2.0 represents.
Description: "Last week, China hosted the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation in Beijing. This was an occasion to take stock, as well as introduce course corrections into the process of unrolling the six-year old Belt and Road Initiative. 37 countries and 29 international organizations participated in the event, with notable presence of Russian President Putin, President Pinera of Chile, President Ueli Maurer of Switzerland, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Prominent India’s neighbors who marked their presence over there were President Bindiya Bhandari of Nepal, Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan, State Counsellor Aung San Su-Kyi of Myanmar. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and managing director of the IMF Christine Lagarde also attended the event. The first phase of BRI was an unfolding of China constructing connectivity hardware — railway lines, highways, ports and pipelines. The emphasis now is to improve the software —­ international cooperation, trade agreements, customs and taxation procedures and financial processes, which is to be linked with China’s overall plans for transforming its domestic economy to emphasize “quality construction” based on innovation and science and technology. On the other hand there is a conscious effort to connect it to a new phase of Chinese global policy which seeks to expand China’s geopolitical reach by assisting developing countries to overcome poverty and joblessness..."
Source/publisher: "Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-30
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Title: Cross-border trade registers wobble amid global meltdown
Description: "Thailand's cross-border trade dropped 1.94% year-on-year in the first 10 months of this year, with the strong baht, global economic slowdown, continued trade war and an overall volatile foreign exchange listed as the key threats. On Thursday, the Commerce Ministry's Foreign Trade Department reported the country's overall cross-border trade, including transit trade, amounted to 1.12 trillion baht for the year to October. Transit trade consists of businesses involved in the passage of goods through more than one country. Of the total figures, exports from Thailand accounted for 627 billion baht, down 2.05% from the same period last year, while imports were worth 498 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of 129 billion..."
Source/publisher: "Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-30
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Title: Myanmar approves 5 more local, foreign investment enterprises
Description: "Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) recently approved five more investment enterprises from home and abroad, said a release from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Saturday. The local and foreign investment enterprises which will create over 1,001 local employment opportunities were approved at the commission's meeting held on Friday. The permitted enterprises will engage in the country's power, livestock and fishery, and real estate sectors. Meanwhile, Myanmar attracted over 292.1 million U.S. dollars' foreign direct investment in manufacturing, other services and real estate sectors in October, first month of present fiscal year 2019-2020. Regionally, Yangon region attracts 60 percent of both local and foreign investments, followed by Mandalay region with 30 percent and the rest flows into other regions and states..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-30
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Title: OUELH expands into Myanmar healthcare with US$19.5m acquisition
Description: "OUE Lippo Healthcare (OUELH) is venturing into Myanmar with stake acquisitions in two joint venture companies that own three hospitals, one medical centre and two clinics. This will give the company presence in the key cities of Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi, the subsidiary company of OUE Limited said on Thursday. OUELH’s wholly owned units have signed a sale and purchase agreement with Waluya Graha Loka to acquire a 40 per cent stake in Yoma Siloam Hospital Pun Hlaing Limited (YSHPH), and a 35 per cent stake in Pun Hlaing International Hospital Limited (PHIH), for US$19.5 million in all. The vendor is considered an associate of Stephen Riady, the non-independent, non-executive director of OUE Lippo Healthcare. It is also an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of property company Lippo Karawaci. Both YSHPH and PHIH are joint venture companies with First Myanmar Investment (FMI), which is part of the enlarged Yoma Group that also comprises SGX-listed Yoma Strategic. FMI, which has businesses in real estate, health care, financial services, and tourism, is also the first company listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange..."
Source/publisher: "The Business Times" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-30
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Title: Does China Want to Take Over the World? Part Two: The Belt and Road Initiative
Description: "There are three major components to China’s global ambitions: The Belt and Road Initiative, 5G, and the South China Sea. Simone Gao: I mean in the history of the world, very few power or no power has been able to dominate both land and sea, you know, at the same time. But China, through belt and road initiative is trying to do that. John Sitilides: One of the benefits of having a command economy is you can plan out what your objectives are and then order your corporations, your banks, your lending institutions, your industrial leaders to undertake the policies you need to achieve the goals under a command economy. Huawei has secured 5G contracts with over 60 countries around the world, many of which are U.S. allies, despite American warnings over cybersecurity concerns. John Sitilides: China probably has its single most effective lobbying operation in Brussels, than anywhere else in the world. Simone Gao: What do you think China’s final goal is in the South China sea and what is America’s plan on China?..."
Source/publisher: "The Epoch Times" (New York)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-29
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Title: Myanmar tycoon open to foreign investment in wake of Ayala deal
Description: "Myanmar tycoon Win Aung is open to foreign investment in the listed industrial-estate provider he oversees, following Ayala Corp's tie-up with a firm traded on the nation's fledgling stock exchange. In an interview in Yangon, Win Aung said a stake sale is an option as he plans to expand Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings, which operates a manufacturing zone where 109 firms have opened factories or plan to do so. "We'll need more capital and technology," Win Aung, the firm's chairman, said on Thursday (Nov 28). "Detailed plans will be revealed later after the authorities officially allow foreigner participation on the Yangon Stock Exchange." Myanmar is trying to expand a stunted bourse that currently has just five stocks by allowing overseas purchases of domestic equities from 2020. The Philippines' oldest conglomerate Ayala is investing in one of those five - First Myanmar Investment - via an US$82.5 million convertible loan that will become a 20 per cent shareholding when rules permit. The four-year-old Thilawa special economic zone is viewed by some as the largest in Myanmar. Japanese, Thai and Malaysian firms account for the bulk of the factories located there, according to Win Aung..."
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-29
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