Weekly Business News from Myanmar

In order to enhance partnership in trade and seek foreign investors in the agriculture and food sectors, the 15 edition of Thaifex - World of Food Asia will be jointly organized by Koelnmesse Pte Ltd, the Thai Department of international trade promotion (
Thaifex-World of Food Asia, in its 15th edition, will take place for 5 days, from May 29 to June 2. The event is organised by Koelnmesse Pte Ltd, the Thai Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC). It seeks to tap into the emerging market opportunities in ASEAN. Thailand is not only looking to enhance partnership in trade with the world but is also seeking foreign investors in the agriculture and food sectors, said Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, permanent secretary of Commerce, Thailand. Food Industry is one of the major sectors instrumental in driving Thailand’s economy. In 2017, food exports generated income of more than US$26 billion or about 830 billion baht to the country, employing as many as 10.75 million workers in the agricultural and fishery sectors. The competitiveness of Thai food industry lies in the complete supply chain, Mrs Sakuntanaga went on.
Rubber Planters and Producers Association called on UMFCCI office to discuss the establishment of rubber manufacturing zones in Mon state and other areas
The Rubber Planters and Producers Association has called for establishing rubber manufacturing zones in Mon State and in other areas that have a number of rubber plantations in order to produce natural rubber and value added rubber products to meet international standard of quality. They called for it at the 15th meeting between the Vice President 1 and business stakeholders held on March 7 at UMFCCI. “The Government should prepare special zones for rubber production such as rubber bands, tires, and rubber gloves, so that everything is ready when Foreign Direct Investments come into the sector. The country must follow the rules for protecting the environment including waste water management. Water treatment is very costly for a single factory, but is cheaper when it is carried out collectively,’’ U Khaing Myint, Secretary of Myanmar Rubber Planters and Producers Association, said.
After the original negotiation with a Singapore-led consortium fell apart in January, the government is negotiating with Japan to finance the construction of Hanthawaddy International Airport in Bago Region
The government is in negotiations with Japan for financing the construction of Hanthawaddy International Airport in Bago Region, after the original negotiations with a Singapore-led consortium fell apart in January, Transport Minister U Thant Sin Maung said on Tuesday. “This project is not halted,” he said, noting that Japan is very interested in the project. “It must go on.” U Thant Sin Maung said the original agreement for the construction of the airport was effectively cancelled because of financial issues. “We could not reach agreement in negotiating such matters as cost estimates, duration for operations (of the consortium) and the means to pay back the loan,” he said. “Therefore, all sides happily ended the negotiations. It’s not ending the project.” The minister said a mega-project like Hanthawaddy International Airport needs comprehensive long-term consideration, given the amount of total investment for the whole project is about US$1.5 billion (K2 trillion).
Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) doubles stock trade matching from two to four times
The Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) will double its stock trade matching times to four from two previously, pending confirmation from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM), according to a statement issued by the exchange yesterday. The new stock trade matching times will now be 10 AM, 11 AM, 12 PM and 1 PM. Currently, stock orders are matched at11 AM and 1 PM. It is the second time the exchange has increased matching times, which is the process of matching buy orders to sell orders, since opening for business in 2016. It increased matching times to twice a day last August. The move is aimed at boosting activity on the YSX, both in terms of the volume of shares traded and the number of investors participating on the exchange.
Village Link, a leading digital service company in Myanmar, launches cutting-edge digital communication platform for the farmers
Village Link, a leading digital service company in Myanmar, officially introduces Htwet Toe, an innovative agri-mobile application for the farmers of Myanmar that aims to build a community between the farmers and agricultural professionals on a single platform, the company said in a statement. The company also announces the support of the Geodata for Agriculture and Water (G4AW) program, which will assist to further develop the application. Myanmar’s agriculture sector is the backbone of the nation’s economy. It contributes to 38 percent of GDP and employs over 60 percent of the labor force. Compare to other ASEAN nations, Myanmar has more arable land and a wider variety of growing conditions. But due to agricultural challenges as well as lack of technology and information, Myanmar’s farmers have among the lowest agricultural productivity and income in the region.[1] Htwet Toe brings a unique solution for Myanmar farmers to get the information about their land and agricultural advice from professionals through just a few keystrokes on their smartphone.
Longer term bonds with higher interest rates should be auctioned to draw more bond investors and reduce the risk for the government
Myanmar needs to strengthen its strategy of repaying debt through the sovereign bond market, MP Daw Thet Thet Khaing said in Parliament last week. The country had internal debts of around K18 billion and foreign debts of around $9.1 billion as at January 31, 2017, according to the Ministry of Planning and Finance (MOPF). While the foreign debts are based on attractive 10-40 year terms with interest rates of up to 5 percent, the government is currently paying interest of between 8.16pc and 9.69pc on Treasury bills and bonds with maturities ranging from 3 months to 3 years. This implies that interest rates on internal debts are much higher than external debt. In addition, as the bonds have relatively short term maturities, the government is also taking on more risk when repaying those debts, according to the Myanmar Debt Management Strategy. As such, longer term bonds with higher interest rates should be auctioned to draw more bond investors and reduce the risk for the government.
Although Myanmar’s government recently gave the go-ahead to some of the largest power projects, it now faces a major short-term challenge to cater to the country's energy needs without blowing the budget
BILLIONS of dollars, thousands of megawatts: the government’s recent decision to green-light four power projects was the biggest development in the sector for several years. But in the background, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy is dealing with a more immediate problem: How to meet Myanmar’s growing short-term power needs without blowing the budget. On January 5, it announced a tender for two rental power projects in Mandalay Region, at Myingyan and Kyaukse, with the winning bidders to be granted a five-year concession. The new plants will replace rental power projects operated by British firm Aggreko (95 megawatts) and APR Energy (102MW) from the United States. In place since 2014, these contracts were shorter – from 12 to 18 months – and have already been extended several times. U Han Zaw, chief engineer at the Electric Power Generation Enterprise, told Frontier that the tender should result in a lower tariff and more efficient power generation. He said the longer contract on offer would also “create a level playing field” by enabling more companies to participate.
Private banks granted a Ks 868.733 billion loan to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Ks 319.228 billion to the agricultural and livestock sector (U Soe Thein, Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar)
Until December, 2017, private banks have granted a Ks 319.228 billion loan to the agricultural and livestock sector and Ks 868.733 billion to small and medium-sized enterprises, said Soe Thein, Vice-governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar. MP Kyaw Htwe representing Yangon Region Constituency-8, raised a question on the policies set for the establishment of private banks by citizens and the loan scheme for farming and SME sectors, at the session of Upper House parliament on March 14. In replying to the question, Vice-governor Soe Thein said the central bank had no separate record of the exact percentage of loans granted to farming and SMEs sectors. This is the collection of figures from the Ministry of Planning and Finance, the Ministry of Industry, State-owned banks and private banks.
Thailand has proposed to use the Baht as the designated currency for cross border trading between Myanmar and Thailand (Ministry of Commerce)
Thailand has proposed to Myanmar to designate the Thai Baht as the currency of choice for bilateral trading in order to stabilize the cross-border trade between Myanmar and Thailand, according to the Ministry of Commerce. “Thailand proposed to use the Baht for trading with Myanmar because Thai traders and investors face difficulties due to the fast fluctuation of Myanmar currency when they conduct business transactions,” said U Yan Naing Tun, director general of the Department of Trade. At the meeting of the Myanmar- Thailand Border Trade Joint Committee, Myanmar and Thailand discussed how to deploy single-stop inspections at border gates between Myanmar and Thailand, launch new border trade camps, facilitate in importing Myanmar’s rubber and agricultural produce, to maintain equal rights for immigration workers and to exchange trade information.
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association and DaNa Facility supported the inclusive business workshop in Yangon to promote economic growth by creating and expanding opportunities for
This week business leaders from across Myanmar joined with policy experts and members of the donor community in Yangon to explore the benefits to Myanmar of adopting “inclusive business practices” that help the poor and boost businesses and the economy as a whole. This Inclusive Business Workshop was facilitated by the DaNa Facility, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association (MYEA). Inclusive Business is an innovative approach to promoting growth in an economy which sees the private sector contributing to inclusive economic growth by creating and expanding opportunities for the poor. Inclusive businesses are always commercially viable companies whose core business is to provide, at scale, innovative and systemic solutions for poor and low-income people. The Inclusive Business approach focuses on the concept of the "triple win" where the interests of the companies, the poor and governments are all served and all three benefits.