RANGOON — Two years ago, Freddy Lynn was spending most of his time at a public access center in downtown Myitkyina in Kachin State. There he was introduced to a world that he did not learn in his university or hear about in his community that had been slowed down by more than six decades of armed conflict.
It was a discovery often interrupted by frequent power outages and news of violent clashes between ethnic groups and the military across Burma. Yet Freddy Lynn knew he should keep at it,...
Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will cooperate for the development of Myanmar rice, official media reported Wednesday.
U Myint Hlaing, minister of Agriculture and Irrigation and IRRI 's director-general Dr Robert S Zeigler signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Myanmar Rice Sector Development Strategy and Program, in Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday, said the New Light of Myanmar.
At the workshop on development of Myanmar...
For years, international companies wanting to set up in Myanmar were stifled by Western sanctions or rebuffed by the country's military government.
Now, as the country opens up, global corporations are finding a new hurdle: real-estate prices.
Top-quality office space in prime locations in Yangon, the commercial capital of the poorest country in Southeast Asia, is now the most expensive in the region at $78 a square meter ($7.33 a square foot) per month, according to research from...
Myanmar is mapping out its way to vastly boost its rice production through a carefully planned strategy that engages donor agencies and builds rice science capacity.
Economic development across Southeast Asia, including in Vietnam, has been lifted by rice sector development, thanks to higher production and exports. In Myanmar, the government wants to produce sufficient rice for its burgeoning population that is expected to reach 100 million by 2030.
”Myanmar’s rice sector has a huge...
FOLLOWING the wave of foreign investments into emerging markets, Myanmar presents long-term opportunities for investors, particularly from neighbouring countries such as Malaysia.
More and more multinational corporations (MNCs) are buying into the potential growth story of Myanmar, given its rich resources in gas, land and minerals, its strong agriculture sector and low-cost labour force. As foreign economic sanctions are slowly being undone, MNCs are keen to explore investment opportunities...
There also plans to use the credit scheme under the National Export Insurance Account operated by the Bank under which government agencies can import goods and services from India.
The Export Import (EXIM) Bank will open a representative office Monday in Yangon, former capital and commercial centre of Myanmar, as India refashions its relations building diverse layers of contact with the Southeast Asian country that will chair the ASEAN bloc next year.
The setting up of the EXIM Bank...
Walking down the street in Yangon, the feeling of change is palpable. New buildings are being constructed and you cannot help but notice the influx of foreign tourists visiting the local sites. There is a lot to like about the opening of one of the world’s last frontiers, especially given its size, geography and vast raw materials. At close to 60 million people, Myanmar is the size of France and shares a border with Bangladesh, China, India, Laos and Thailand. Its geographic proximity to...
KAN ZAW, Myanmar's minister of national planning and economic development, said last week that the government's medium- and long-term reforms would ensure the creation of an investment-friendly climate and keep up with Asean and international norms and standards.
Virasak Sutanthavibul, senior executive vice president of Bangkok Bank, said the Myanmar government should consider liberalising the financial industry so that foreign banks can form joint ventures with local banks, as 95 per cent...
A controversial natural gas pipeline delivering gas to China from Myanmar has been brought into use.
The $2.5bn (£1.6bn) pipeline stretches from Myanmar's deepwater Shwe fields to China's south-western Yunnan province. It took three years to complete and is 493 miles long.
The pipeline’s annual throughput capacity is 12 billion cubic metres (1.16 Bcf per day). Gas production is currently at 58,550 Mcf per day but is expected to increase to 500,000 Mcf per day.
A 478 mile crude...
YANGON, Myanmar As some of the world’s biggest companies trumpet their arrival in Asia’s hottest frontier market, the tobacco industry has a different strategy: It’s slipping into Myanmar without fanfare.
The impoverished nation of 60 million people emerged from a half-century of isolation and brutal military rule two years ago. With most international sanctions against the country lifted or suspended, foreign businesses from Coca-Cola and Unilever to Suzuki Motors have scrambled to...
The Myanmar Industries Association is urging members to consider alternate forms of private energy production to combat chronic electricity shortages, officials said last week.
“Government-supplied electricity is cut regularly,” U Nyan Tun Oo, Yangon Region Minister for Electricity and Industry, told a workshop for association members in Yangon on July 31.
“Industry owners face major expenses and challenges getting enough electricity. It’s time for us to consider private...
ANA Holdings intends to obtain the maximum portion allowed under local law as part of a plan to expand its network in Southeast Asia by using Myanmar as a hub, the Nikkei business daily said.
The company -- the parent of major airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) -- will spend nearly three billion yen ($30.5 million) for the stake in Asian Wings Airways, the paper said, adding the payment would be made by the end of March 2014.
ANA said the company had no comment at the moment.
"If any...
China has finished constructing a deep-sea port on Madae Island in Rakhine State, according to officials from the ports authority.
The port will dock 300,000 tonne oil tankers as part of the Myanmar-China crude oil pipeline which is still under construction. The port was built in joint venture between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the Ministry of Energy.
"The deep seaport is reserved for 300,000 tonne oil tankers and 26 metres deep oil tankers," said an official from...
India is to open a new four lane motorway to allow traders and tourists to drive from its eastern tea state of Assam into Burma, Thailand and eventually Cambodia and Vietnam.
The new "trilateral highway" is aimed at creating a new economic zone ranging from Calcutta on the Bay of Bengal to Ho Chi Minh City on the South China Sea.
The first phase of the project was agreed during Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Burma this week when he and President Thein Sein set a 2016...
Myanmar has worked out a 75-year plan to develop its Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in southern Tanintharyi region, seeking strategic partnership with Japan in additional to Thailand and inviting international tenders and developers for the implementation of the SEZ project.
The plan, in five phases of different duration, will be implemented on land covering 44,850 acres (18,164 hectares) in total, according to U Aye Myint, chairman of the Central Working Committee for Implementation of...
Myanmar government is planning to use Chinese loans to cover the electrical expenditures of two major low-cost housing projects in the outskirts of Yangon, according to the Ministry of Construction.
Myanmar will borrow a total of US$9 million from Chinese EXIM Bank for the public housing and infrastructure projects, according to the government's projections for investments in national projects and foreign loans during 2013-14.
Chinese loans will be used for electrical expenses in...
AHMEDABAD: The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will open its eighth overseas office at Yangon in neighbouring Myanmar next month, a top official said here.
The bank already has presence in Singapore, Washington DC, London, Dubai, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Senegal.
"Myanmar offers lot of business opportunities to India. Already, we have different projects lined up in the country and to tap the country's potential in various sectors, we will open an office in Yangon next...
Myanmar Investment Commission has granted permission to companies from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to do business in local CMP garment industry with 100% foreign investments, according to official data.
A Hong Kong-based company and local B&N Garment Myanmar Company have been permitted to do their garment businesses in Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone (2) in Yangon Region. Taiwan-based companies such as Melody Global and Sunny Shoes Inc are allowed to do manufacturing of footwear and outdoor...
Myanmar could formally award acreage from its highly anticipated offshore licensing round in February or March next year, an official at the Ministry of Energy said Wednesday.
"Right now we are doing the overview with the companies who have pre-qualified," Energy Planning Department Director Khin Khin Aye said.
Myanmar in April offered 30 blocks in its offshore licensing round -- 11 shallow water and 19 deepwater -- with a June 14 deadline for submission of formal expressions of interest,...
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...
Over 80 % of the people embracing Theravada Buddhists. There are also Christians, Muslims, Hindus and even some animists. However there is full freedom of worship for followers of other religions. Christian missionaries... ... More
