ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

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  Myanmar’s economic growth is expected to slow by 0.6 percent to 6.2 percent growth in 2018 - 2019 fiscal year: factors for the slowdown include rising risks from the Rakhine crisis

  Myanmar’s economic growth is expected to slow from 6.8 percent in 2017-18 to 6.2 percent in 2018-19 and face potential risks to recovery, according to the World Bank’s latest country report, released Thursday. Growth is projected to recover to 6.6 percent by 2020-21, “helped by recent policy changes such as the adoption of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, liberalization of wholesale and retail trade, implementation of the Myanmar Companies Law and large investments in infrastructure projects including those related to the Belt and Road Initiative,” the bank said. But it warned that it foresaw risks from intensifying impacts of the Rakhine crisis, domestic macroeconomic imbalances and the possible repeal of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences by the European Union and a possible slowdown in global growth.
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  Qualified foreign insurance firms will receive licenses to start their operations in Myanmar by April 2019 (U Thant Sin, Director of the Financial Regulatory Department, Ministry of Planning and Finance)

  Qualified foreign insurance providers will receive licenses to operate in Myanmar by April next year. “I can assure it is happening within the next 16 weeks,” U Thant Sin, Director of the Financial Regulatory Department under the Ministry of Planning and Finance, said during the UK Capital Market and Insurance Conference in Yangon on December 12. “We will soon invite Expressions of Interest (EOI) so that foreign insurers can start operations in April or no later than May,” he said. Foreign insurers from 14 countries have established a total of 31 representative offices in Myanmar in anticipation of the government allowing full foreign investments in life insurance and joint ventures in general insurance.
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  Greater Mekong Sub-region 10th Economic Corridors Forum took place in Nay Pyi Taw to accelerate economic development in the region

  Greater Mekong Sub-region 10th Economic Corridors Forum took place in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday. The forum was held under the GMS Economic Cooperation Program. The theme of the forum is “Extending Corridors for Inclusive Connectivity in the GMS”. Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun gave a welcome remark at the forum. The meeting reviewed the specific initiatives to accelerate the economic development in the region.
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  U Soe Win, Union Minister for Planning and Finance, urged entrepreneurs to systematically keep their assets, accounts and cash flow statements

  Union Minister for Planning and Finance Soe Win has urged entrepreneurs to keep their assets, accounts and cash flow statement systematically, at a regular meeting between the Vice-President and private entrepreneurs in Yangon on December 14. “These documents would help support the measurements of our performances. The systematic keeping of these records would enable departments to see the cash flow statement and help support cooperation with foreign investors. In a bid to help local entrepreneurs get financial aid, Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) have been granting loans to manufacturing, service, transportation and construction sectors. The interest rate for a one-year loan is 11 per cent. The interest rate for a loan with less than three year repayment period is 12.5 per cent. The long-term loan interest rate is at 12.25 per cent. In addition, the MEB grants policy loans. The MEB can grant loans worth up to Ks300 million. The MEB has to seek the approval from the ministry for the disbursement of above Ks 300 million in loans”, said the minister.
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  Pyidaungsu Hluttaw approved USD $ 24.3 million loan from Thailand’s Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (NEDA) for implementing development projects along Greater Mekong Sub-region Economic Corridors

  Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union) approved a proposal to borrow $24.3 million from Thailand’s Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (NEDA) for implementing development projects in cities along Greater Mekong Sub-region Economic Corridors. The Ministry of Construction and Karen State Government will use the loan to upgrade water distribution and waste management in the town of Myawaddy, as well as conducting public awareness program civil servants capabilities. “We will use $11.3 million for water distribution, $7.6 million for waste management, and $2.2 million for capacity building of civil servant,’’said U Kyaw Lin, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Commerce.
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  Locals lose hope on Dawei Special Economic Zone amid rising concerns on the project

  HOPES OF local residents are fast waning for the revival of the long-suspended special economic zone in the Dawei district of Tanintharyi region bordering Kanchanaburi province. Some villagers living in the proposed project area and near the road link to Thailand shared their frustrations at the launch of a report by EarthRights International entitled, “Communities in the balance: local voices and prospects for the Dawei SEZ” last week. “We once had high hopes for the project, but now they are all gone. We will be more than happy to welcome the project if it is resumed, but it should come up with a good result rather than beautiful words that are not realistic at all,” said Than Shein, who lives in Payadard Village a part of the proposed site for the Dawei SEZ. He said the lives of those living in the six villages where the first phase of the project were to be implemented is even worse than during the term of the previous government. “We have nothing. Road infrastructure is really bad, and we do not have access to electricity. What is worse, there are no job opportunities here. We have been left far behind other townships in Tanintharyi region,” he said.
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  Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) organized workshops to raise awareness on Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights for extractive companies in oil and gas industry as well as the mining sector in Myanmar

  Protests and demonstrations pose a serious security threat to the oil and gas industry as well as mining sector in Myanmar, a recent poll among industry players showed. Yangon-based Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) organised workshops aiming to raise awareness of the relevance of Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) for Myanmar’s extractive companies, and identify the most serious security issues for the industries. The workshops were held in the capital city and Yangon in late November, attended by stakeholders from public and private sectors. At the VPSHR’s inaugural meeting for the Myanmar’s working group in May, co-chaired by the UK Embassy and TOTAL, a scoping report on VPSHR implementation, proposed by MCRB, International Alert, an NGO, and PeaceNexus, Swiss-based peacebuilding foundation, was approved.
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  The Department for International Trade (DIT) of the British Embassy organized the UK Capital Market and Insurance Conference in Yangon to strengthen support for the development of Myanmar's capital market

  The UK Capital Market and Insurance Conference 2018 was held in Yangon on Wednesday. The conference was organized by the Department for International Trade (DIT) of British Embassy in Yangon. It aims to strengthen the support of DIT in Myanmar growing capital market, and also hopes to go forward in future partnership. Deputy Director, Department for International Trade, Warren Pain said “Today event is really indicative of what we are trying to do as UK government to play a part in Myanmar starting economic growth. Such positive GDP figures that we are seeing and the opening at international plays of key sectors economy including today capital market. It is particularly relevant for Myanmar to have an effective capital market in such as insurance market opening up to international play.” The experts from business sectors discussed three topics- Leaders’ Dialogue, Bond Market Development for Myanmar and Insurance Business Support at the conference.
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  The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) will grant loans without collateral with more than 13 percent annual interest rate

  The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) will grant loans without any collateral with more than 13 per cent annual interest rate, said Soe Thein, Vice-Governor of the central bank, at a ceremony to sign the credit Bureau Software License between Myanmar Credit Bureau Ltd and Equifax New Zealand Services and Solutions Ltd, at Myanmar Banks Association on December 10. “The central bank has to grant loans based only on collateral. Now entrepreneurs can take loans with the 13-per-cent annual interest rate by putting collateral up. They can take loans without any collateral. The loan interest rate will be higher than the current rate. It will materialize soon,” he added.
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  The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) denied that huge dollar purchase was made to benefit the local banks

  The Central Bank of Myanmar has denied claims that its purchase of more than US$30 million from local private banks last week, at a time when the currency was weak, was made specifically in order to benefit the lenders. “The greenback weakened steeply that day [Dec. 4]. Media reports claimed that the central bank bought U.S. dollars fearing that it would weaken. That is wrong. Secondly, the accusation that we intentionally bought U.S. dollars to benefit banks is totally inaccurate,” Central Bank of Myanmar vice governor U Soe Thein said on Monday at the Myanmar Banks Association in Yangon. The exchange rate was 1 dollar to 1,545 kyats on the morning of Dec. 4, but the dollar had weakened to 1,490 kyats by that evening. The central bank then bought dollars from private banks, causing the kyat to slump against the dollar again.