India has offered US$150 million of credit for project exports for establishing a SEZ at Sittwe in Myanmar, an official statement said. The proposal was discussed during a three-day visit of India’s commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma to Naypyidaw and Yangon. Sharma called for greater cooperation in banking sector and appreciated the Myanmar government’s approval to allow Indian banks like United Bank of India to set up a representative office in Myanmar.
Myanmar’s Lower House Speaker and chairman of the governing Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Shwe Mann has expressed his interest in becoming the next president. He said this during an interview, only a few days after NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her interest for the role. He cautioned however that any prospective president must first win the backing of Myanmar’s voters and his or her own party.
More than 50 acres of paddy fields confiscated by the Max Myanmar Group for shrimp farming will be given back to farmers in southwest Myanmar, according to San Oo, the director of the conglomerate. Zaw Zaw, the 45-year-old owner of Max Myanmar, is revamping his image in a bid to attract more global investment, with revenue at his group of companies reportedly set to double.
Coca-Cola has set up a production plant in Myanmar, the company announced on 4 June, following the fizzy drink’s entry to Myanmar last year. Coca-Cola said it became one of the first US companies to be granted an investment permit under Myanmar’s new Foreign Investment Law, but Coca-Cola is planning to invest US$200 million in the country.
Myanmar’s president said 4 June his government would soon free all remaining prisoners of conscience. The president said the government has formed a committee to review the cases of political prisoners. “We are taking time to investigate cases that confuse criminal offences and political offences,” he said, adding that people convicted of violent crimes linked to political acts “deserve their sentences”. Activists say some 200 political prisoners remain in jail.
Hundreds of global leaders, industry chiefs and foreign media are attending the World Economic Forum on East Asia, in Naypyidaw 5-7 June. Some 900 delegates from more than 50 countries will attend the forum, reflecting the huge interest in Myanmar as it opens to the world after decades of isolation under military rule. Sushant Palakurthi Rao, Asia head of the WEF, said the Myanmar forum was “by far the largest” meeting of the group. The theme for this week’s forum is “sharing prosperity”.
The European Union has appointed Roland Kobia, current head of EU delegation to Azerbaijan, as the first EU ambassador to Myanmar. The EU opened the delegation in April last year and is based in Yangon and not in the political capital Naypyidaw.
A newspaper publisher who created a sports paper and used coded headlines to call for democracy in Myanmar has won the Golden Pen Press Freedom Award from the World Editors’ Forum. Dr Than Htut Aung, chairman and chief executive of the Eleven Media Group, received the award at a more than 1500 newspaper executives at the World Association of Newspapers Conference in Bangkok. “After 50 years of dictatorship, the road to democracy will not be smooth. We are living under fear. The Golden Pen means I am not working alone and the people of Myanmar are not working alone. It means the international community is with us,” He said during his speech.
After three days of negotiations, the Myanmar government has reached a preliminary ceasefire with the Kachin rebels, raising hopes of ending two years of fighting. Min Zaw Oo, the director of the Myanmar Peace Centre, told the AFP news agency that Kachin and government representatives had signed a seven-point plan, including an agreement to halt hostilities.
The 22nd World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia will take place in Naypyidaw from 5-7 June. Over 900 government officials, business leaders, civil society representatives and academics will meet and discuss issues facing Myanmar and East Asia today. Sushant Palakurthi Rao, senior director and head of Asia at the World Economic Forum, said the event would help ensure that development in Myanmar translates into “inclusive growth”, as the country continues on a path of “bold economic and political reform”. Mr Sushant added that Asean integration would be another major theme of the conference.