Myanmar Monitor

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Economy, Investment and Trade

Telco sector in Myanmar popular with foreign investors
20 April 2017 – Foreign investment in Myanmar’s telecommunications industry surged to US$3.08 billion for the year ending March, a 60 percent jump yoy. The mobile phone industry has been the most popular sector for foreign investors. Companies such as Myanmar’s MPT, a partner of Japan’s KDDI, Qatar’s Ooredoo and Telenor Norway are competing for customers, and they are investing heavily in equipment and services. The other sector which is doing well is manufacturing which drew the next largest investment of US$1.17 billion, up 11 percent due mostly to investment in textiles companies.
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World Bank loans US$100 million to develop Myanmar’s financial sector
24 April 2017 – The World Bank’s International Development Association has lent Myanmar US$100 million to improve its financial sector. The loan has a low interest rate of 0.75 percent per annum which will only kick in after six years with a repayment period of 32 years, essentially making the loan a 38 year commitment. U Maung Maung Win, deputy minister at Myanmar’s Ministry of Planning and Finance, said that the project, known as the the Myanmar Financial Development Project, will help improve the government banks’ services, encourage strong financial institution laws and management policies, and modernise the basic building blocks of the financial sector while assisting the expansion of financial services to support the public and SMEs.
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Myanmar government sends pharma proposal to India
25 April 2017 – The Myanmar government has put in a proposal to the Indian government to bulk purchase generic medicines for its public hospitals. For India, this proposal is timely and will be considered by the Commerce Department in order to shore-up the country’s declining exports. The proposal from Myanmar has courted the interest of around 70 Indian pharmaceutical companies who are looking to expand into the Southeast Asian market. Currently, Myanmar imports 40 percent of its drug requirements from India, worth around US$144 million.
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Malaysian company sees Myanmar market as priority;
26 April 2017 – A Malaysian producer of packaging material has noted that Myanmar is currently its primary expansion market. Kian Joo Can Factory is in the midst of setting up two plants in Myanmar’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone and the investment for each plant is approximately US$23.5 million. It hopes to begin commercial production at the plants in the fourth quarter of 2018. Currently, Kian Joo has been exporting its products to Myanmar but plans to replicate its Malaysian business model in Myanmar.
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Myanmar closing down three Rakhine IDP camps
11 April 2017 – On the recommendation of a commission led by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Myanmar has begun to shut down three displacement camps in order to heal ethno-religious tensions in the country. The camps for internally displaced peoples (IDPs) were populated with thousands from the Muslim and Buddhist communities who were internally displaced after sectarian violence erupted in the region five years ago. However, it is still unclear as to where the inhabitants of these camps would go.
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