Top Story: Foreign Investment in Myanmar hits $42.95 billion
Top Stories:
- Foreign investment in Myanmar hits $42.95 billion: Contracted foreign investment in Myanmar from 32 countries and regions hit $42.95 billion as of the end of July 2013 since 1988, according to the latest official figures. Country-wise speaking, China led with $14.188 billion, accounting for 33.04 percent of the total. China was followed by Thailand ($9.979 billion), China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ($6.404 billion), the United Kingdom ($3.045 billion), South Korea ($3.018 billion), Singapore ($2.358 billion) and Malaysia ($1.034 billion).
- Myanmar Speaker says Govt Pivotal in Constitutional Change: Myanmar's parliamentary speaker Friday said the government will be instrumental in any amendment to the nation's military-drafted constitution, which currently bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency. Opposition members of parliament and democracy activists have raised fears military lawmakers, who have 25 percent of seats guaranteed under the current constitution, may prove an obstacle to amending the document regardless of whether the government presses for change.
- Shwe Mann, Suu Kyi Seek to Reassure Journalists Over Media Laws: In meetings with Burma’s interim Press Council, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann said the controversial Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill could still be amended before it becomes law. The bill, which the Press Council says would give Burma’s Ministry of Information wide scope to issue and revoke publishing licenses and which journalists see as overly restrictive, is currently with Burma’s Upper House after the Lower House passed the measure in July.
Economics
Foreign investment in Myanmar hits $42.95 bln | GlobalTimes, August 19
Contracted foreign investment in Myanmar from 32 countries and regions hit $42.95 billion as of the end of July 2013 since 1988, according to the latest official figures. Country-wise speaking, China led with $14.188 billion, accounting for 33.04 percent of the total. China was followed by Thailand ($9.979 billion), China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ($6.404 billion), the United Kingdom ($3.045 billion), South Korea ($3.018 billion), Singapore ($2.358 billion) and Malaysia ($1.034 billion). Sector-wise speaking, power sector led all sectors, with $19.237 billion, accounting for 44.79 percent of the total. It was followed by oil and gas ($14.372 billion), mining ($2.829 billion), manufacturing ($2.749 billion), hotels and tourist ($1.585 billion) and real estate ($1.056 billion).
WTO to implement trading programme in Myanmar | Eleven, August 19
World Trade Organisation (WTO) is discussing an Enhanced Integrated Framework program to assist Myanmar's economic development, according to Ministry of Commerce. The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) is a multi-donor programme, which helps least-developed countries (LDCs) play a more active role in the global trading system. The programme has a wider goal of promoting economic growth and sustainable development and helping to lift more people out of poverty. The WTO has long carried out EIF programmes in least developed countries like Myanmar. The WTO has accepted Myanmar as an EIF member in April of this year and it will participate in Myanmar’s trade activities and trade development programs.
Myanmar credit card moves will time: Visa | GlobalTimes, August 19
Visa International, which entered Myanmar last year, expects that it will take about three to five years for the credit and debit card system to be fully established in the cash-based society. Somboon Krobteeranon, manager for Myanmar and Thailand, said last week that one year was spent helping to lay the groundwork and educate its financial institution partners in the neighbouring country. The company has eight commercial banks in Myanmar as local partners and licensed four of them to connect with Visa's payment system. Visa card and Visa debit card holders can make withdrawals from these four banks' ATMs. "What we're doing for this year is transferring know-how and licensing the remaining four partners," he said. Visa and the four licensed bank partners have installed about 100 ATMs that foreigners can use to make withdrawals. Some merchants can accept Visa credit cards.
Myanmar approves manufacturing and distribution of Nissan cars | Eleven, August 18
Myanmar Investment Commission has approved the manufacturing and distribution of Nissan cars in Myanmar by Tan Chong Motor (Myanmar) Co Ltd on August 15, according to a report from the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. Malaysia-based Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd (TCMH), the business partner of Japan's Nissan Motor, has engaged in discussion with Myanmar authorities since last year to manufacture and distribute Nissan cars and spare parts in Myanmar. TCMH Group's subsidiary ETCM (MM) Pte Ltd (Malaysia), registered as Tan Chong Motor (Myanmar) Ltd, is now to set up an automobile assembly plant in Bago Region. Tan Chong Motor (Myanmar) will conduct the business as wholly-owned and a hundred percent foreign investment, said the ministry's report.
Burmese Days: Walmart licking its chops over Myanmar | SouthernStudies, August 16
Walmart publicly preached "Buy America" three decades ago, and the Arkansas-based retail giant imported less than 6 percent of the products it sold in the United States. By 2006 four-fifths of its suppliers were based in China. Then China's workers began protesting their conditions and eventually got the attention of the Communist Party leadership in Beijing, which feared rising worker militancy in the workers' paradise. Over the past 10 years, blue-collar workers' wages have risen some 400 percent. So like other U.S.-based corporate bottom-feeders, Walmart looked beyond China for suppliers that could meet Walmart's stringent cost demands through low wages and poor working conditions.
Airlines Scramble to Land in Myanmar, but Visas Still up in the Air | The Irrawaddy, August 20
Foreign airline companies big and small are falling over one another in a battle for landing rights in Myanmar to tap into Southeast Asia’s new and rapidly rising tourist destination. Myanmar may still be a long way behind its neighbor Thailand in visitor numbers, but since President U Thein Sein began opening up the country two years ago, tourism has become one of its biggest businesses. More than 20 foreign airlines now fly direct to several cities in Myanmar, ranging from the big German holiday package charter operator Condor to Thailand’s tiny Nok Air. Frankfurt-based Condor, the biggest holiday charter flights company in Germany, is already operating a weekly service, while Nok Air begins a service in September.
Energy
SEAGP to provide for local needs along Myanmar-China gas pipeline | Eleven, August 19
Southeast Asia Gas Pipeline Company Limited (SEAGP) and Southeast Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Company Limited (SEAOP) will carry out the needs of locals living along Myanmar-China gas pipeline, according to SEAGP and SEAOP. The Myanmar-China oil and gas pipelines run parallel to the coastal township of Kyaukphyu through Magway, Mandalay, and finally Shan State before entering China's Yunnan Province through the border town of Ruili. The gas pipeline is 793 km long and the oil pipeline is 771 km long. Myanmar aims to transport 22 million tonnes of crude oil and 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Shwe gas project to China. The pipeline will carry a capacity of 5.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year during the initial period and up to 12 billion cubic meters in later years. Six process stations will also be built along the pipeline.
PTT expresses interest in refining complex development in Myanmar | Eleven, August 19
PTT has expressed its interest to develop a refining complex in Myanmar, said its executive. Attapol Rerkpibool, in charge of overseas business, said that PTT is among 7 companies, vying to develop the large complex which is located near Yangon and a river. Myanmar will officially launch an auction, which may not be within this year as the country is now busy hosting SEA Games, he said. In the written interest to Myanmar, PTT proposed to build a refinery with daily capacity of 50,000 barrels. Aside from the refinery, the Thai oil and gas company also eyes to make presence felt in the power generating and coal industries. Attapol also confirmed that PTT’s first fuel station in Myanmar would be open before December, ahead of the SEA Games. In five years, it targets to open 60 stations.
Myanmar To Select Foreign Energy Companies To Explore 30 Offshore Blocks From 61 Shortlisted Companies | IBTimes, August 15
Myanmar has begun the long process of selecting foreign investors that will be allowed to explore the rich oil and gas resources in the seas off of the country’s coast from 61 companies that have been shortlisted, including Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE:RDS.A), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Total SA (NYSE:TOT) and China National Petroleum Corporation. The Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and the Energy Planning Department (EPD) will now hold talks with the shortlisted companies. The list also contains Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO) of Norway, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), and firms from Thailand, South Korea, India, Japan and Australia, Irrawaddy, a Myanmar news outlet based in Thailand, reported on Aug. 1.
Renewable Energy in Myanmar: A Complicated Story | Yale University, August 14
Myanmar's history of opaque, authoritarian government and wealth inequality make its dismal Environmental Performance Index ranking in categories like forest loss, air effects on human health, and environmental burden of disease hardly a surprise. However the southeast Asian country's overall 2012 ranking of 69--squarely in the middle of the pack--is buoyed by a high performance in ecosystem vitality. That success was itself driven by the fact that Myanmar has made incredible gains in recent years in renewable energy. By unraveling the details of these changes, as well as what is in store now that Myanmar has opened politically, one can draw out some of the complexity and linkages inherent to big, international indices like the EPI.
Myanmar EITI Application On Track | MyanmarTimes, August 11
Myanmar is expected to begin the formal process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative by the end of this year, several sources said earlier this month. The initiative requires companies working in the oil, gas and mineral sectors to declare any payments to the government, while the government also has to declare its revenue from extractive industries. Edith Bowles, a senior official from the Sustainable Energy, Gas, Oil and Mining (SEGOM) unit at the World Bank, said Myanmar is on track to start the application process in December. “There are 39 counties implementing EITI while a further 16 countries have applied to be EITI members,” Ms Bowles said. “We expect Myanmar will start the EITI membership application process in December.
Financial Services
New Era for Myanmar’s Financial Sector | OxfordBusinessGroup, August 19
Fresh legislation has paved the way for a major shift in Myanmar’s financial sector, spearheaded by the separation of the central bank from the Ministry of Finance and Revenue. The long-awaited Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) Law was signed by the president, Thein Sein, on July 11. The legislation secures the bank’s autonomy and clarifies its responsibilities. Widely seen as one of the key building blocks in the recent round of reforms, the law is set to radically shift the way the financial sector is regulated in Myanmar, while providing potential investors with a confidence boost. The financial system in Myanmar remains one of the least developed in the world, with under 10% of the population holding of a bank account and less than one citizen per 1000 active in the credit market. Both individuals and businesses have struggled to access capital from financial institutions for decades, due to a combination of high inflation, bank runs, insider lending and low capital bases. Attracting depositors back into the banking system is regarded as one of the biggest challenges Myanmar faces.
Myanmar Faces Difficult Balance in Financial Overhaul | WSJ, August 11
Myanmar has come a long way in revamping its financial system since the military gave up formal power two and a half years ago. The country's new civilian leaders made its central bank independent last month and ushered in several other changes meant to smooth the way for more foreign investment. And over the past two weeks, the government has allowed foreign-exchange trading between local banks, according to state media, and appointed a new management team for the central bank. But weighty questions remain as to how far the new government will go in forging a Western-style financial system.
British Companies to Help Boost Burma’s Financial Sector | Telegraph, August 6
British companies will be drafted in by the Burmese government to help kick-start its financial services sector. Last year, the majority of sanctions were lifted against Burma (now officially called Myanmar) allowing it to trade freely with the rest of the world while opening its economy up to foreign investment. This saw Western companies clamour to enter Burma, which has a population of 59 million and was a military dictatorship between 1962 and 2011. It was once regarded as one of Asia’s richest nations. A year on from the sanctions being lifted, a financial services taskforce has been launched by the UK and Burmese governments to help develop financial products and services aimed at providing credit.
Food & Agriculture
Robert Kuok's Plantation Firm Eyes Myanmar As Next Sugar Frontier | Forbes, August 8
Singapore-listed Wilmar International said Wednesday that its net profit in the second quarter rose 87% to $219 million. Stronger sales of oil palm and other edible oils boosted the bottom line of the company, which is controlled by Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok. Oil palm prices may have been trading lately at three-year lows, but plantation firms like Wilmar are busy scouting for new pastures for the tropical fruit. The edible oil has become the go-to choice for cost-cutting food manufacturers, and this soaring demand has fed decades of expansion in Indonesia and Malaysia. But there are signs that Indonesia, for one, is cooling on the allocation of land for plantations:
Foreign Affairs
U.S., Japan Want a Piece of China’s Myanmar Action | TheStreet, August 16
The irony is irrepressible. We have two authoritarian Asian neighbors with a historically cozy anti-Western relationship. One is investing all over the world, from acquisitions in the United States to resource exploration in Africa. The other has cracked open its fertile economy to foreign investors over the past year. But China is not emerging as the most favored investor in Myanmar, according to an unusually critical report in the venerable Caijing.com.cn online newspaper. Its July 30 commentary says Chinese investors are offering excessively "traditional industries" such as mining, infrastructure construction and telecom projects. Those missions would give China access to the Indian Ocean while locking in natural resources for its still fast-growing economy.
Thailand Cool on Myanmar Visa Plan | BangkokPost, August 15
Thailand is lukewarm on a visa exemption proposal raised by Myanmar for free entry of the two countries's nationals. Myanmar Foreign Minister Wanna Maung Lwin raised the issue in talks with Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul on the sidelines of the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Hua Hin on Wednesday. But Mr Surapong said waiving visas for the two countries needed to be thrashed out by other agencies who were already concerned about Myanmar citizens illegally entering the country to work. Thailand urged Myanmar to speed up the process of nationality identification for Rohingya migrants in the kingdom as the six-month deadline for their stay had long overrun. The deadline ended in June and Myanmar has not completed its verification of the Rohingya detained in Thailand.
India to link with Myanmar port to boost ASEAN connectivity | DNAIndia, August 11
In its push for greater connectivity with ASEAN countries, India is focussing its attention on a deep-sea port in southern Myanmar that would provide a much shorter sea route to the economically vibrant Southeast Asian region and help boost trade. The Dawei deep sea port and special economic zone is slated to give a huge boost to connectivity and trade in the Southeast Asian region when it is commissioned in a few years. The $8-billion project is being developed jointly by Myanmar and Thailand. "The Dawei deep sea port, when complete, will provide India an alternative sea route to Southeast Asia and reduce dependency on the congested Strait of Malacca and cut transport time," an official told IANS.
Congressional aides say U.S to expand Myanmar Gem Ban | StarTribune, August 6
Congressional aides say the Obama administration is planning to extend a ban on imports of rubies and jade from Myanmar because of the powerful military's involvement in the trade. The gemstones are sourced from border regions, particularly northern Kachin State, where violence between ethnic rebels and government forces has rumbled on despite Myanmar's democratic reforms. Three aides say President Barack Obama is expected to issue an executive order as 2003 sanctions legislation authorizing the ban lapsed July 27. The aides requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans before an announcement expected this week.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Qatari firm vows affordable mobile access for Myanmar | TheDailyStar, August 18
Qatari telecoms giant Ooredoo on Friday pledged to introduce “affordable” phone services to Myanmar next year as it pumps $15 billion into one of the world’s few remaining frontier mobile markets. The firm, which in June along with Norway’s Telenor won bids to provide mobile coverage to a nation where less than 10 percent of the population has telephone access, should be formally awarded its 15-year 3G licence by the end of this year. It will then start to roll out its mobile services — including money transfers and weather data for farmers — within six months, a company executive told reporters in Yangon. “People can use Ooredoo’s services next year… we need to build quickly, not only in cities but also in rural areas,” Ross Cormack said. Few in Myanmar can currently afford mobile phones and SIM card fees, which in the past cost about $200, although the government is now trying to make prices more affordable.
Shwe Mann, Suu Kyi Seek to Reassure Journalists Over Media Laws | Irrawaddy, August 14
In meetings with Burma’s interim Press Council, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann said the controversial Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill could still be amended before it becomes law. The bill, which the Press Council says would give Burma’s Ministry of Information wide scope to issue and revoke publishing licenses and which journalists see as overly restrictive, is currently with Burma’s Upper House after the Lower House passed the measure in July. Press Council members have said they will resign if the measure is passed into law as it is, but it seems that nuclear option might not now be necessary. “Thura Shwe Mann told us that there should be a chance to amend the bill before it leaves the Upper House, and that it even could be amended after that, in the joint houses, and even once it goes to the president,” said Thiha Saw, a Press Council member who attended Tuesday’s meetings in Naypyidaw. While in Burma’s administrative capital, the Press Council delegation met with National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Suu Kyi, who like Shwe Mann, is a contender for Burma’s presidency after national elections scheduled for 2015.
Huawei chosen as main supplier company for Myanmar mobile operators | Eleven, August 12
China communications giant Huawei Technologies has been chosen as a main technological supplier for three main mobile operators in Myanmar despite US warnings over cyber security. The three operators are the state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (MPT), Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP) and recent private license winner Telenor from Norway. The other license winner Ooredoo hasn’t announced the name of it's supplier company yet but are currently also negotiating with Huawei. ”We have chosen the name of supplier company roughly but we will announce the name next week," said Soe Thura, Ooredoo’s media representative.
Infrastructure
Myanmar eyeing possibility of building new deep-sea port | Global Post August 16
The Myanmar government will jointly perform a feasibility study with a private company from Thailand to explore the possibility of building a new deep-sea port in the country's southeastern Mon State facing the Gulf of Moattama, state media reported Friday. The Port Authority of the Ministry of Transport recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand's Emerald Grand Hotel Co. to start conducting, within three months, the feasibility study for the Kalargote deep-sea port project located between Ye and Mawlamyine towns in Mon State, the New Light of Myanmar daily said.
Burma’s Busy Black Economy “Threatens Reforms” | Irrawaddy, August 14
It can be as small as a mobile phone, as long as a felled teak tree, or as bulky as a four-door sedan. The size of the goods doesn’t seem to matter in Burma’s thriving black market economy. Someone somewhere is simply turning a blind eye or taking a bribe to help keep the illegal cross-border trade—worth tens of millions of dollars—in operation. It’s not only costing the country heavily in lost tax revenue, say observers, it’s undermining efforts by President Thein Sein and his government to turn Burma into a successful democratic market economy. “Decades of corruption and mismanagement have resulted in a network of crony officials and businessmen who still illegally trade in the country’s natural wealth, ranging from gem stones to timber to oil and gas,” Billy Tea, a research fellow at the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies in Honolulu, wrote in the Asia Times.
Burma Awards Contacts to Build/ Expand International Airports | Irrawaddy, August 12
Burma has awarded contracts to expand two existing airports and build a new international airport, amid the growing demands of tourism in a country which expects to see annual foreign arrivals rise from about 2 million to 7 million by 2020. A contract to expand Burma’s main international airport, Yangon International Airport, has been awarded to a consortium led by Pioneer Aerodrome Services Co., an affiliate of the major Burmese conglomerate Asia World, which is run by Steven Law, who is still on the US sanctions list. Steven Law, also known as Tun Myint Naing, is the son of the recently deceased Burmese drug kingpin Lo Hsing Han. US companies are forbidden from doing business with him due to his connection to Burma’s former military regime and involvement in the illicit drug trade.
Myanmar about to upgrade hotel infrastructure | ETurboNews, August 11
The Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and the Myanmar Hoteliers Association will this month carry out joint inspections of selected hotels in the country as part of the government's strategy to upgrade certain hotel improve services. The Myanmar News Agency reports: “We were not able to judge hotels’ standard this year. But, we have a plan for upgrading them this month. We are going to inspect the hotels together with the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. We are going to do this work dividing into two groups,” said Tin Win, chairman of Yangon Hotel Zone, of Myanmar Hoteliers Association. The arrival of tourists to Myanmar has increased since 2012. Although it is not in the peak season, tourist arrivals have much more increased with high demand for hotel rooms. So hotel charges are getting higher. In the entire country, there are 826 licensed hotels and 29,999 rooms according to the data released by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism on June 2013.
National Affairs
Myanmar Speaker says Govt Pivotal in Constitutional Change | FoxNews, August 16
Myanmar's parliamentary speaker Friday said the government will be instrumental in any amendment to the nation's military-drafted constitution, which currently bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency. Opposition members of parliament and democracy activists have raised fears military lawmakers, who have 25 percent of seats guaranteed under the current constitution, may prove an obstacle to amending the document regardless of whether the government presses for change. But former general-turned-speaker Shwe Mann on Friday told reporters that the decision to amend the constitution -- or not -- before a hotly-anticipated general election in 2015 will need the blessing of reformist President Thein Sein's government. The house last month formed a committee to review the document made up of 109 lawmakers including 52 from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) party, 25 from the military and seven MPs from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
Fresh Myanmar clashes signal growing Muslim desperation | Reuters, August 12
Attempts to bring stability to Myanmar's strategic northwest Rakhine State could be unraveling after police opened fire on Rohingya Muslims for the third time in two months, reviving tensions in a region beset by religious violence last year. Villages outside the state capital Sittwe remain volatile after a dispute over custody of a dead Rohingya quickly escalated into a day of clashes on Friday in which police raked Rohingya crowds with gunfire, according to witnesses. The violence underscores the growing Rohingya desperation in the face of an increasingly unsparing police response. At least two people were killed and more than a dozen injured, locals said.
New Committee Created to Guide Burma’s Reform Process | Irrawaddy, August 12
President Thein Sein has set up a national reform committee to help guide Burma’s ongoing transition to democracy, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar. The newspaper reported on Saturday that Thein Sein in an address over the weekend stressed that his government would prioritize a “people-centered development approach” in the last 30 months of his first term in office, which concludes in 2015. The formation of the committee will be led by the president and reportedly came after a meeting of Union ministers, regional chief ministers and deputy ministers.
Constitutional Review for Myanmar | JPost, August 10
After years of advocacy efforts, the Myanmar government is beginning to act on its 2008 constitution. The parliament formed a 109-member committee on July 25 to review the country’s constitution. The committee includes lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and President Thein Sein’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), along with representatives from the 25 percent of seats allotted to the military. The proposed constitutional amendment, among others, is an attempt to address the lingering concerns surrounding the two most-pressing needs of the country – to remove or modify the clause that prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president, and allowing states to choose their chief ministers.
Myanmar to spend US$77.5 million on rural development | Eleven August 21
Myanmar government has allocated over 75 billion Kyats (US$77.5 million) to be spent on rural development programmes across the country between 2013-14, according to the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development. Minister Ohn Myint delivered a speech during a meeting with government bodies, international organisations and local NGO's on August 17 at the Myanmar Peace Centre in Yangon. "The projects the government has approved for the fiscal year of 2013-14 include 6 rural road and bridge projects, 7 water supply and health and cleanliness projects, 2 electricity-supply projects and building 1000 toilets and creating employments in 40 villages. Total 75 billion Kyats have been projected to use in respective regions," said Minister Ohn Myint. Businessmen and experts also attended the meeting that focused on implementation of rural development programmes guided by President Thein Sein. "In implementing the projects, the funds will be transferred to the respective regions and effective management down to the bottom level will be ensured, according to the President's instruction," the minister noted.
Healthcare In Myanmar | Forbes August 19
It would be a mild understatement to say that over the last fifty years, healthcare outcomes in Myanmar have not kept pace with those of its neighbors. As the last country in Southeast Asia to open to foreign investment, by 2013 healthcare in Myanmar was suffering badly from over fifty years of neglect. When the World Health Organization (WHO) last ranked Myanmar’s system against its global counterparts, the country was pegged dead last out of 190 countries with respect to what the WHO calls “overall health system performance.” Myanmar spends roughly 2% of its GDP on healthcare; impoverished Laos spends 4.5%, Cambodia 5.6%. Because of the pitiful amount of money the government has historically spent on healthcare, Myanmar continues to struggle with basic problems related to communicable diseases. Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the country. Many of these deaths occur from a drug-resistant form of the disease common along the country’s border with Thailand. TB rates in Myanmar are estimated to be three times the global rate, and the majority of cases are drug-resistant.