ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

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  Yangon Regional Tourism Committee endorsed hotel and guest house projects worth K 10.537 billion which expected to create 252 job opportunities

  The Yangon Regional Tourism Committee has endorsed hotels and guesthouse projects worth K10.537 billion, which are expected to create 252 jobs. The decision was taken during a meeting held yesterday at the Yangon Region government’s office. The regional tourism committee has granted licenses to four hotels and one guesthouse, with room occupancy of 224. The ministry has also issued 39 inbound tour licences and one hotel construction permit, according to the committee. So far, the regional tourism committee has issued licences to 37 hotels and nine guesthouses, and a temporary licence to one hotel, with a total of 2,360 rooms. Construction permits have been issued to 19 hotels and 3 guesthouses. Meanwhile, the committee has issued licences to 315 inbound tours, 121 outbound tours, and 218 tour guides. The total capital for hotels and guesthouses is estimated at K130.16 billion and US$238.29 million, with foreign companies investing K5.94 billion and $25.22 million, joint ventures putting in $213.07 million, and domestic companies parking K124.22 billion into projects. The projects have helped create over 2,900 jobs.
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  Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) reduced the registration fees for the new companies from K 250,000 to K 150,000 starting from October 1, the first month of 2019 – 2020 fiscal year

  In a fresh move to lure more firms to set up shop in Myanmar, fees to incorporate or register a new business in the country will be reduced to K150,000 from K250,000 from October 1, the first month of fiscal 2019-20. The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) yesterday issued Notification (84/2019) announcing amended prescribed fees and late lodgment fees under the Myanmar Companies Law 2017. This replaces Notification (57/2018) issued in July last year. The reduction of fees under (84/2019) will be applicable to the incorporation as a private company limited by shares (Form A-1), company limited by guarantee (Form A-3), unlimited company (Form A-4), private company limited by shares under the Special Company Act 1950 (Form A-6) and registration as an overseas corporation (Form A-8).
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  The authorities are being drawn up the bill outlining sugar export and import policies in Myanmar

  A sugar bill prescribing sugar factory policies and sugar export and import policies is being drawn up, said U Win Htay, vice chairman of the Myanmar Sugar and Sugarcane Products Entrepreneurs Association. “We are writing the third bill with certain provisions revoked, while adding provisions to cope with the current situation. Under this law, we will form a board which will decide how much money to collect per one ton of sugar. And, we will give back support to local farmers when the price of sugar declines,” he added. Upon completion of the sugar bill, it is to be submitted to the Attorney General’s office, through which it will be sent to the bill drafting commission. Finally, it will be submitted for approval to the Hulttaw, which will pass the sugar bill for enactment. The sugar bill was drawn up by the sugarcane crop branch under the agricultural department, in cooperation with the Myanmar Sugar and Sugarcane Products Entrepreneurs Association. The sugar bill will detail sugar factory policies, sugar purchasing related policies and regulations in forming the board.
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  Institutional investors in Myanmar plan to set up the Myanmar Private Equity & Capital Association this month

  Leading private equity firms launched the Myanmar Private Equity & Venture Capital Association this month to give institutional investors a collective voice when engaging with the Myanmar authorities. “This launch marks a milestone in the development of the Myanmar economy since the country started opening up in 2012. The investment community has reached critical mass,” said association chair Josephine Price, who is co-founder of Anthem Asia. The membership organisation also counts Delta Capital, Japanese Daiwa PI Partners, London-listed Myanmar Strategic Holdings, Trust Venture Partners’ Yangon Capital Partners and YGA Capital among its founding members. After Myanmar opened up its market in 2012, the country attracted the interest of private equity investors looking to inject their funds. In 2018, startups in Myanmar raised around US$62 million. Online travel firm Oway secured $14.7 million from Japanese multinational business conglomerate Daiwa and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.
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  Myanmar Competition Commission warned against monopolies and false marketing in Myanmar

  Myanmar Competition Commission will keep monopolies in check among local businesses, and unfair tender process in government development project “You could have monopoly before, but now, you can’t and won’t now. We will take serious legal action against unfair competition, unfair tender process, and monopolies in accordance with law,” U Than Maung, Vice President of Myanmar Competition Commission, said. A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity. Monopolies can be characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce the good or service, a lack of viable substitute goods, and the possibility of a high price well above the seller's marginal cost that leads to a high monopoly profit. The Competition Law is not to specifically control businesses in the country, but to protect them and consumers, said U Aye Han, a member of the commission.
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  The volume of foreign investment in real estate sector reached more than USD $ 400 million from 1988 – 1989 to 2018 – 2019 fiscal year

  Foreign investment worth of more than US$ 5,400 million flowed in real estate sector from 1988-1989 fiscal year to August of 2018-2019 FY, according to the official statistics of Myanmar Investment Commission. From October 1 to the end of August in 2018-2019 FY, foreign investment volume reached US$ 183.533 million in the real estate sector. The official statistics of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) showed that foreign investment volume reached US$ 22,420.572 million in oil and gas sector, US$ 21,178.132 million in energy sector, US$ 11,430.434 million in production sector, US$ 10,908.433 million in telecom and transport sector, US$ 5,439.880 million in real estate sector and US$ 3,098.936 million in hotel and travel sector from 1988-1989 fiscal year to August of 2018-2019 FY.
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  Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) attended an event in Singapore to boost economic ties and bilateral relations between two countries

  Senior Myanmar officials have attended an event in Singapore as part of efforts to boost economic ties between the two countries. Union Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) U Thaung Tun, who is also chair of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), attended the Singapore Summit 2019 held on September 20 and 21. U Thaung Tun also met with Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat to discuss increasing economic cooperation and investment between Myanmar and Singapore as well as relations between the two countries, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER), said in a statement issued on September 22.
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  Union Government set to focus on supporting growth of digital economy such as telecoms infrastructure next year

  A senior government official says that the government is set to focus on supporting the digital economy next year. Deputy Director General of Posts and Telecommunications U Than Thun Aung said this in his speech during the Myanmar Connect 2019 Conference on Tuesday. U Than Thun Aung said regulatory areas that will be the focus next year to support digital economy include regulation balancing, customer stratification, consumer protection, cyber security, support for the digital economy, regional integration, and social media and spam. Realising the importance of building a strong digital economy, the government recently announced the Myanmar Digital Economy Roadmap and the formation of the Digital Economy Development Committee (DEDC) with the goal of enabling the country’s digital transformation, introducing digital government, digital trade and innovation, and to develop a digital economy across all sectors for inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development.
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  With the support Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Finance and Myanmar Financial Intelligence Unit, EuroCham Myanmar organized Anti-Illicit Trade Forum 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw

  The Anti-illicit Trade Forum 2019 was held at M-Gallery Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday. It was organized by EuroCham Myanmar with the support of Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Finance, and Myanmar Financial Intelligence Unit. A report on illicit trade that evaluates the tax losses in selected FMCG products was launched at the event. In 2017-2018, according to foreign custom data, the export to Myanmar was 25.12 billion US$, while the official import resulted to be only 18.68 billion US$. Therefore, it was 6.44 billion US$ worth of illicit trade.
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  Yangon Regional Government submitted a regional planning bill with 149 projects which will start in the upcoming 2019 – 2020 fiscal year

  Yangon Region Minister for Planning and Finance U Myint Thaung submitted a regional planning bill that includes 149 projects slated to be continued or started in the upcoming 2019-2020 fiscal year to the parliament on Wednesday. U Myint Thaung told lawmakers that the bill includes 80 projects from the Yangon Project Bank development plan and others forwarded by the region’s seven socioeconomic development project committees. The minister said they expect the projects in the bill will contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the region as well as the country. He added that the bill has been approved by the Regional Cabinet and the Regional Planning Commission. U Kyaw Zay Ya, secretary of the regional parliament’s Finance, Planning and Economic Committee, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the bill includes the New Yangon City project, a new city project in Dala, industrial zones in 11 townships on the outskirts of Yangon, upgrades to local markets and affordable housing projects.