ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

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  Different views on impact of SMEs Development Law- whether it supports or restricts SMEs development

  In 2015 Myanmar adopted the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Law. It is debatable whether or not a law for SMEs is necessary. More important is for government and Parliament to ensure that all relevant laws and policies recognise the needs of SMEs before they are adopted. However, a Law is now in place, and in addition to the usual creation of Committees and other bodies, it seeks to define what a small or medium-sized enterprise is. Most official international definitions of SMEs are based on permanent employee numbers. According to the OECD a micro-enterprise has 1-9 employees, a small one 10-49, and a medium-sized one 50-249. This limit of ‘less than 250 employees’ is used by the EU, although some countries set the limit at 200 employees, while the United States considers SMEs to include firms with fewer than 500 employees. Despite national variations, there is a common recognition that number of employees is the simplest indicator of whether a business is an SME. The European Small Business Alliance (ESBA) recently affirmed this as an essential point, in its response to the review which the EU is currently undertaking of its SME definition.
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  Indian Prime Minister discussed the promotion of bilateral trade, infrastructure and power supply between India and Myanmar

  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed infrastructure, trade and promoting investments between India and Myanmar during his first bilateral State visit to Myanmar on September 5-7. In Nay Pyi Taw, PM Modi, Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw and other Union ministers successfully negotiated and finalised agreements on regulating and harmonising travel across the 1,600km border bridging the two countries in the northeast. This includes an arrangement to start a regular bus service connecting Imphal in India and Mandalay. The move is expected to promote bilateral trade between India and Myanmar, which was also discussed at the meeting in Nay Pyi Taw. Both sides agreed that, while robust, there is much potential for growth in trade.
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  Round-table discussion on Myanmar and BIMSTEC identify tremendous opportunities for trade, communication and culture exchange in the BIMSTEC region

  Participants at a Yangon roundtable discussion today point to largely untapped opportunities for trade, communication and cultural exchange in a region of 2.5 billion souls. Parami Roundtable and Mizzima Media Group organised a roundtable on Myanmar and BIMSTEC to commemorate the celebration of 20 years of BIMSTEC. BIMSTEC, known as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation, is a regional cooperation initiative of Bay of Bengal countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Recent progress of BIMSTEC has opened up enormous opportunities in trade and value chains within BIMSTEC. But growth of intra-regional investment is negligible and the region is yet to witness any regional connectivity projects on the ground.
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  One Kachin entrepreneur plans to build a Myanmar gasket factory for supplying international quality gaskets to the global market

  It has been ten years since Ko Zin Myo Htik, owner of Myanmar Gasket (MG), left his hometown in Moe Kaung city, Kachin State, for Yangon, where he is now pursuing his dream of building a Myanmar gasket factory supplying international-quality gaskets to the global market. A gasket is a mechanical seal which fills the space between two or more mating surfaces. It serves to prevent leakage from or into the joined objects while under compression and is commonly used in various industries from automotive to oil and gas. MG currently produces Yangon’s best-quality gaskets for the car industry, according to Ko Zin Myo Htik. “Currently, my products are 30 percent cheaper than foreign-made products and better quality than some China-made products of the same price. Compared to the local products, mine are the best,” he told The Myanmar Times. With the exception of steel gaskets, Ko Zin Myo Htik said he can now make gaskets of every size.
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  Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holding Public Limited (MTSH),which is listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX), falls upon trading ex-dividend

  Shares of Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Limited (MTSH), which is listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX), have plunged since trading ex-dividend on August 9. MTSH has proposed a dividend of K260 per share for the financial year ended March 31, 2017. Shareholders will be asked to approve the dividend at the company’s 4th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 9. The record date, or deadline for determining MTSH shareholders’ entitlement to a dividend, was August 11. At the close of September 5, MTSH closed at K3,400 per share, down from a high of K4,200 per share on August 8 and K3,700 on August 9.
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  Myanmar strives for more reforms to boost tourism and meet its target of welcoming 5 million tourists this year

  Despite the decline in tourist arrivals last year, Myanmar aims to rebound its tourism growth by undertaking reforms to improve both domestic and international travels, says a tourism boss. Tint Thwin, director general at the Directorate of Hotels and Tourism, said in an interview the government now focuses on easing of some restrictions and creating new destinations to meet its target of welcoming 5 million tourists this year. “We hope to achieve our target if more people come to know about our country and its beautiful destinations. We believe we will receive a large number of tourists in the last four months (from September to December),” he said. “Even in the low season, we have seen a 10 per cent increase in international tourist arrivals and a 24 per cent increase in the number of visitors who entered through border gates last month, when compared to the same period last year.”
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  Yangon Regional Government is discussing ways to reduce land prices in order to boost foreign investment ( (Yangon Chief Minister, U Phyo Min Thein)

  The Yangon Region¬al government is discussing ways to reduce land prices so not to be a barrier for foreign investment in the na¬tions commercial capital, Yangon Chief Minister, U Phyo Min Thein, said at a UMFCCI meeting on Au¬gust 28. “The price of farm land in Yangon Region has be¬come extortionate as resi¬dents and businessmen are selling property and changing land permission because of rumor-based land speculation. Entre¬preneurs with a stated in¬tention purchase land and shift their intentions im¬mediately after ink on the ownership papers is dry. This government will not stand for such manipula¬tion,” U Phyo Min Thein affirmed. Under the articles of the National Land Use Policy, the prices for land are designated by the buyer's commercial or develop¬ment purposes, re-allo¬cating land immediately after a sale is unethical and illegal.
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  Construction and Housing Development Bank will provide construction firms with better access to loans

  The Ministry of Plan¬ning and Finance through Myanmar Economic Bank will pro¬vide a line of credit to local construction en¬trepreneurs through the recently established Con¬struction and Housing Development Bank. The Union Minister for Planning and Finance, U Kyaw Win, made the announcement at UMF¬CCI meeting on August 28 in response to recent concerns that the slowed growth in property and infrastructure develop¬ments have arisen from firms inability to access loans. “Most construction firms face financial ob¬stacles posed by large up-front costs and a lack of accessible credit, thus slowing down their time¬line for development,” U Kyaw Win said. The Construction and Housing Development Bank was formed in 2013 under the Ministry of Construction to meet that expressed demand by of¬fering easy to apply for loans with low annual in¬terest rates.
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  To boost trade, transport incomes and benefits from BIMSTEC, Myanmar needs customs bonding arrangements with neighboring countries

  A top logistics expert has said Myanmar must work out customs bonding agreements with neighbouring countries to boost trade and transport incomes that could accrue from regional groupings like BIMSTEC. Speaking to Mizzima on the side-lines of a seminar on 'Myanmar in BIMSTEC' logistics specialist and consultant Paul Apthorp said Myanmar is strategically located between South and South-east Asia. "It is going to the biggest beneficiary of regional groups like BIMSTEC, but only if got into customs bonding agreements with India, Bangladesh, Thailand and other countries," Paul Apthorp told Mizzima in an exclusive interview. "See how trade between Thailand and China exploded through the roof after the two countries arrived at a customs bonding agreement, said Paul Apthorp, "That could happen if Myanmar worked out similar agreements with its neighbours."
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  A new companies act will introduce significant changes in the legal definition of foreign companies, registration process and capital structures following discussion in Amyotha Hluttaw

  The draft Companies Act, which is currently discussed by Amyotha Hluttaw, will introduce significant changes in the legal definition of foreign companies, the registration process and capital structures. Notably, foreign firms no longer need to obtain a permit to trade from the authorities and foreigners will be allowed to buy shares on the Yangon Stock Exchange for the first time. Filip Lauwerysen, executive director of the European Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar (EuroCham), has written to The Myanmar Times to detail his analysis on the significant changes entailed by the draft Companies Act, which was submitted to Amyotha Hluttaw, the upper house of the parliament, in July. The bill was drafted by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It was submitted to Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house, in early January this year.