ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

• 

  U Thaung Tun said that Myanmar is opened up to the world and urged investors to participate in Rahine’s journey to prosperity

  U Thaung Tun, Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, and Chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission, has invited local and foreign investments to Rakhine State, calling the country’s diversified cultures and customs from different communities its strength, and noted the significant opportunities for the country. The investment fair which is first of its kind in Rakhine State is held with the assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency-JICA, Japan External Trade Organization- JETRO, Myanmar Survey Research Co Ltd-MSR and private companies. Speaking at the Rakhine State Investment Fair, the Union Minister said, “In Myanmar diversity is a source of strength. Myanmar has such great potential precisely because we are such a diverse country — consisting of peoples and communities, with distinct languages, cultures and traditions. “Investment can build upon this diversity — bringing new ideas, new technologies, new ways of doing business — helping communities connect, beyond boundaries, through borders, and across continents,” said the Union Minister.
• 

  Mongla officials denied Chinese firm permit to set up autonomous digital Economic Zone in Shan State

  YANGON—The general secretary of the rebel-controlled Mongla Special Administrative Region on the Chinese border has denied any knowledge of a Chinese company’s plan to establish an independent political entity within its borders based on an “e-citizenship” system open to all with a digital economy supported by a cryptocurrency. In a program titled “Inside the Crypto Kingdom”, Channel News Asia reported last week that Chinese company Shanghai Shellpay Internet Technology plans to construct the Yongbang Blockchain Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Shan State’s Mongla Special Administrative Region 4. In the video, Shanghai Shellpay Internet Technology CEO Zhang Hong said the SEZ will be an experimental digital economy exercising a high degree of autonomy, and vested with independent executive, legislative and judicial power. The zone would use an “e-citizen” system and a cryptocurrency, the Yongbang coin, Zhang said. But U Kyi Myint, the general secretary of Mongla Special Administrative Region 4, told The Irrawaddy, “It’s impossible. We don’t know what they’re talking about.”
• 

  Chin State Investment and Products Fair will be held on 16 and 17 March 2019 in Yangon to attract local and foreign investors to accelerate the developments in the state

  Chin State is looking to attract local and foreign investors to accelerate the development of tourism, agriculture, livestock, and electricity generation in the state, U Aung Naing Oo, the secretary of Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), said Tuesday. As part of efforts to attract potential investors theChin State Investment and Products Fair will be held on March 16 and 17 at the Myanmar Convention Center in Yangon, with the support of the Myanmar Investment Commission, Chin State government, Chin State Chambers of Commerce and Industry, DaNa Facility, and VDB Loi. “The sectors in the state with the most potential for investors are hotels and tourism, agriculture and livestock, and power generation so we will target foreign investors keen on those sectors,” U Aung Naing Oo said.
• 

  Vice President U Myint Swe urged to work together to increase the number of local experts and import substitutions to bring balance to Myanmar’s trade volume

  “The Private Sector Development Committee promptly carries out matters that can be dealt with immediately. For example, the committee announced during its 23rd regular meeting that the Ministry of Planning and Finance will submit a proposal to amend a provision in the 2019 Union Taxation Law that reads ‘milk, condensed milk, fresh milk and various kinds of milk powder’ into ‘milk and other dairy products’, after the Myanmar Livestock Federation made the request, citing that the absence of the word ‘yogurt’ means commercial tax is levied from this dairy product,” said Vice President U Myint Swe. The Vice President made the remark during his speech at the 24th regular meeting of the Private Sector Development Committee – PSDC, of which he is the Chairperson, held at the UMFCCI (Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry) building in Lanmadaw Township, Yangon yesterday.
• 

  Ministry of Electricity and Energy announced that it will be called for new round for bids on onshore and offshore oil and gas blocks for this year soon

  The Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) has announced that it will be calling for bids on onshore and offshore oil and gas blocks for this year. The announcement was made for 18 onshore and 15 offshore blocks in Rakhine State during the Rakhine State Investment Fair 2019 on February 22. MOEE Minister U Win Khine said the government is hoping the conclude the process by the end of next month. U Nyan Tun, deputy managing director of Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, said the bidding this year will be more flexible in terms of conditions placed on production sharing and offer a clearer tender process. U Thaung Tun, the chair of the Myanmar Investment Commission, had said during the Invest Myanmar Summit held in January, that the government is drafting new production-sharing contracts to attract more foreign investors.
• 

  State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi invited responsible and sustainable local and foreign investors to investment in Rakhine State

  NGAPALI, Rakhine State — State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday invited responsible and sustainable investors from home and abroad to back projects in Rakhine State and help one of Myanmar’s poorest and most troubled regions turn a corner. Speaking in the beach resort town of Ngapali at the state’s first ever investment fair — which is running with the tag line “Rakhine is open for business to the world” — she said she and her government recognized the “grave challenges” they were facing. The state counselor said her government was doing all it could to meet the area’s security and humanitarian needs, in line with the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which had been led by the late U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. While doing so, she added, “we have to address economic issues in Rakhine, that we may achieve the progress and development needed to sustain stability and prosperity.”
• 

  Mandalay Region’s inflation rate is the highest in the country due to its status as a major trade hub in Myanmar

  Mandalay Region’s inflation rate, at 11.53 percent, is the highest in the country due to its status as a major trade hub in the country, said U Myat Thu, Regional Minister for Planning and Finance. The region’s inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is calculated by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) under the Ministry of Planning and Finance, exceeds even Rakhine State, where inflation is 10.68pc and Magwe Region at 9.66pc. The annual average inflation rate in Myanmar is currently around 6.94pc. Among the factors that have an impact on inflation is the dollar-to-kyat exchange rate. Over the past year, the kyat has weakened substantially against the US dollar, making imports more expensive. On Monday, the weighted market exchange rate had fallen to K1523.9 per US dollar, compared to K1300 last year. As a major hub for traders from China, Mandalay sees high volumes of currency flows which have an impact on rising inflation.
• 

  Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would bring more opportunities to Myanmar and the region which can promote the development of the country and its people

  The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could bring opportunities to Myanmar and the region, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a Xinhua report. At the first meeting of the steering committee for implementation of tasks relating to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Aung San Suu Kyi also stressed the need to work on the projects under the BRI in harmony with the country's national priorities and said that the welfare of the people will be counted while implementing the projects. The BRI could promote cooperation in all sectors including infrastructure, the state counsellor added.
• 

  Permits for jade and gem mine blocks in Myanmar will be expired this year (U Thet Khaing, Deputy Director of Myanmar Gems Enterprise)

  The permits for some jade and mine blocks in Myanmar will expire this year, U Thet Khaing, deputy director of Myanma Gems Enterprise has told The Myanmar Times. There are more than 5000 blocks across the nation and the permits for most are set to expire, he said. The Myanma Gems Enterprise under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has been issuing a list of expiring blocks since April 2016. The permits set to expire are for blocks in gemstone tracts in Hpakant, Lone Khin, Mogok, Hkamti, Nant Yar Seik, Mine Shu and Maw Lu-Maw Han. Extensions of permits for the blocks will not be allowed and the authorities will consider granting permits for new blocks in accordance with the law after the Gemstone Rules are in place, U Thet Khaing said.
• 

  Its expectation are not shared by many in the private sector despite Government has evinced high expectations for rebound in foreign investment at Invest Myanmar Summit 2019

  The government evinced high hopes for a rebound in foreign investment at a recent event in Nay Pyi Taw but its expectations are not shared by many in the private sector. THE GOVERNMENT tried hard to woo big spenders at the recent Invest Myanmar Summit, which focused on attracting foreign investment in about 200 projects altogether worth US$20 billion over the next 20 years, mainly in infrastructure development. State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi delivered the opening speech at the event in Nay Pyi Taw on January 28 and 29, which saw an unprecedented turnout of 12 Union ministers, 10 regional ministers, and more than 150 regional and state representatives, and attracted nearly 1,600 participants. “I stand here to reaffirm our commitment to continue our reforms and build an investment-friendly environment,” she said.