ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

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  In partnership with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), DICA published its first social-economic report for investors

  The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) in partnership with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) have published a detailed report entitled The Socio-Economic Atlas of Myanmar. For the first time, the report will provide official details and statistics on Myanmar's geography, population and climate as well as its education transportation, healthcare and communications systems according to each region. The report will help foreigners interested in Myanmar make better investment decisions and raise the volume of foreign direct investments coming into the country.
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  Thilawa SEZ project in Zone B has sold out 26 per cent shares and investors from many countries are interested to invest in Thilawa SEZ

  The total foreign investment in Thilawa Special Economic Zone Project has exceeded US$1.1 billion (1.363 trillion kyat), said Myint Zaw, officer and general manager of Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd. “We have sold out 26 per cent of Thilawa SEZ (Zone-B). The construction of Zone-A is 96 per cent completed,” he added. Currently, 17 countries have invested in Zone-B with Japan topping the list of investors. Many countries have offered to inject their investments into Thilawa SEZ project. Some investors want to invest in labour-intensive and import-substituting industries.
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  To facilitate a second EITI report, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) revealed the details of its other account

  Negotiations are underway for the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) to reveal details of its Other Account to facilitate a second report under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Myanmar published its first EITI report on January 2, 2016, opening up its extractive sector to public scrutiny for the first time. The country’s natural resources include oil and gas, minerals and gems. The EITI is a global standard which encourages good governance and transparency over the income generated within a country’s extractive sector. By implementing EITI standards, Myanmar also aims to improve its tax collection system. Although Myanmar has been an EITI member since 2014, its EITI status has yet to be assessed pending results of a second report, which will include information on income generated by the Myanmar oil and gas and mining sectors during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years.
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  Local log exporters concerned about foreign competition and requested the government to hold tenders only open to domestic log traders

  LOG exporting businesses in Myanmar have requested the government to hold tenders only open to domestic log traders. Log merchants have called for the Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), which is under the Ministry of Resource and Environmental Conservation, to hold separate tenders for local wood-based industry merchants engaging in the business of exporting logs of wood. The request was made during an October 2 event held by the Myanmar Forest Products Merchants Federation (MFPMF) in Yangon. “The local merchants are not able to compete with foreign export bidders, who have the market, technology and good financing [in terms of trade and other loans]. The government needs to arrange a separate tender for local merchants for log export as locals can’t compete with foreign investors in the same tender,” U Thein Che, vice chair of MFPMF, said.
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  Agricultural sector is the top priority as it is the source of 70 percent of the country’s livelihood

  The prevalence of natural disasters, the lack of sufficient reaction plans, and defi¬cient infrastructure are major barriers to foreign investment in the agricul¬ture sector, Dr. Soe Tun, Vice Chairman of Myan¬mar Rice Federation, said. In the agricultural sec¬tor, both foreign and lo¬cal investment are lower than 1 percent of total investment because the industry offers investors little stability and guaran¬tee from adverse weather, insects and no access to supportive infrastructure such as milling facilities, electricity, and infrastruc¬ture, Dr. Soe Tun said. This year, the majority of foreign direct invest¬ment (FDI) went to the oil and gas sector, repre¬senting 30 percent of total FDI while the agriculture sector received about 0.51 percent.
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  Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation revived domestic bamboo production to develop a value added bamboo industry

  The Union Minis¬ter for Natural Re¬sources and Envi¬ronmental Conservation has called for a reinvigor¬ating makeover of domes¬tic bamboo production. National revenue from the sale of bamboo mate¬rial and products amounts to an underwhelming $5 million annually. Harvested from approx¬imately 1.7-million hec¬tares in Bago, Rakhine, and Tanintharyi Regions, commercial bamboo pro¬duction is underperform¬ing, said the minister. “Compared with the abundancy of bamboo forests, national revenue is unusually low,” U Ohn Win, Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conserva¬tion said at World Bam¬boo Day on September 18.
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  Department of Forestry liberalizes key forestry products by handing authority of oversight and tax collection to regional and state governments

  The Department of Forestry has handed authority of oversight and tax col¬lection from three high-value items, to regional and state governments, according to a Septem¬ber 25 announcement. After the proposal to de¬centralize the oversight of forestry product tax col¬lection was submitted to Ministry of Commerce by producers and exporters of Thanakha, Cardamon and Elephant Foot Yam, the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Natural Resource and Environ¬mental Conservation de¬cided to liberalize. Previously, the 25 per¬cent tax for the three items from state and pri¬vately owned forest areas were collected by the For¬estry Department.
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  Due to the lack of power supply, Thilawa Special Economic Zone's mission to transform into a manufacturing hub hasn’t gained momentum and has hampered the manufacturers

  DESPITE the foreign investments brought into Myanmar thanks to Thilawa Special Economic Zone, the SEZ’s purported mission to transform into a manufacturing hub has not gained momentum, partly because of the lack of power supply. In fact, the design of the SEZ is at odds with the current government’s top priority of developing exports and reducing the country’s reliance on imports. Within the Thilawa SEZ, a total of 82 companies have invested in Zone A and 66 companies have started constructions. Among them, 33 companies are already able to manufacture products. More than US$1.1 billion investments have been brought into the SEZ. However, most businesses operating in the SEZ do not manufacture products with raw materials in the country. Instead, they distribute imported goods, pack them, and sell them. This approach results in the opposite effects of reducing the country’s imports.
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  TrueMoney fintech firm's strategy amid rising competition is to cater to demands for a service facilitating international mobile cash transfers

  TrueMoney, one of the newest additions to the string of fintech firms vying for a slice of the mobile money market in Myanmar, is upping its game in the face of rising competition. Its strategy is to meet demand for a service to facilitate international mobile cash transfers by Myanmar residents. “We have a channel that connects the mobile money market across the region,” Siriporn Nimtiparat, managing director of TrueMoney Myanmar Co, told The Myanmar Times. TrueMoney, a Thai company, provides mobile financial services allowing users to deposit cash in mobile accounts online or at physical point-of-sale outlets and transfer cash equivalents to a network of agents domestically or overseas.
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  Singapore is active in Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as the dispute resolution centre, but Hong Kong is another strong candidate

  SINGAPORE is active in Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as the dispute resolution centre, while London is stepping up its game in legal services in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). When it comes to infrastructure disputes, Myanmar has a few choices to consider. Some businesses in China seeking to expand their operations beyond domestic borders and to export their products and services internationally have greatly underestimated the legal risks in the process, according to Dr Ying Yu from Oxford. The success of the initiative depends not only on bilateral agreements but also on multilateral agreements between countries, so as to form a comprehensive legal framework within which these countries can operate.