ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

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  Myanmar hotels and tourism sector attracted K 180 billion investment in the half month of 2019 – 2020 fiscal year

  Hotels and Tourism sector has attracted domestic investments of over K180 billion in the half of the current financial year 2019-2020, according to the Central Statistical Organization. The domestic investments in Myanmar’s hotels and tourism sector stood at K202.37 billion in the 2014-2015FY, K434.67 billion in the 2015-2016FY, K132.9 billion in the 2016-2017FY, K341.6 billion in the 2017-2018FY, K129.5 billion in the 2018 mini-budget period (Apr-Sep) and K173.23 billion in the 2018-2019FY, totalling over K1,414 billion. The tourism sector is the worst affected of all major economic sector due to the outbreak of the pandemic. To contain the spread of coronavirus, Myanmar has currently extended precaution restriction period for the international flights up to June-end. The tourism sector completely stopped and all the stakeholders in the hotels and tourism industry are experiencing financial hardships and unemployment.
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  Legislators in Myanmar revamped governance of industrial zones under new law

  Legislators in Myanmar have approved a long-awaited law governing industrial parks that grant regulatory bodies new powers to punish polluters and land speculators. Lawyers and experts, however, warn that effective governance will depend on enforcement and accompanying regulations, which have yet to be announced. Enacted by the Hluttaw on May 26, the Industrial Zone Law seeks to address the prevalent problem of land speculation and improve environmental governance of more than 60 industrial zones across the country. It creates a Union-level central committee to regulate the zones on top of the existing regional and management committees. The law defines the responsibilities of different levels of committees and bans investors from occupying plots for speculation purposes.
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  Myanmar received rice purchase proposals from three ASEAN countries through Government to Government (G to G) agreement

  Myanmar has received rice purchase proposals from three ASEAN countries — Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, said an official of the Ministry of Commerce. The Philippines offered to buy 300,000 tonnes of rice, while Malaysia proposed 50,000 tonnes. Indonesia is currently inspecting rice quality. They will submit purchase order if they like the quality, according to the news released by a property website iMyanmarHouse.com. Earlier, Myanmar yearly exported around 60,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines. Additionally, Myanmar and Malaysia are discussing to buy rice through Government to Government (G to G) agreement. Beyond regional trade, China’s company recently reached an agreement with Myanmar’s counterpart to buy about 500 tonnes of A 12 sortexed broken rice on 3 June, according to the Ministry.
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  The contract to upgrade Heho airport expected to be signed in the next three months of this year

  The contract to upgrade Heho airport expected to be signed in the next three months of this year
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  Myanmar Government pulls Swiss firm to scrutinize China backed study on BRI project to connect Mandalay and Kunming

  The Myanmar government says it is receiving help from a Swiss company to scrutinize a China-backed study on Beijing’s ambitious railway project to connect Mandalay with Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in southwestern China. At a press conference in Naypyitaw on Wednesday, Myanma Railways Managing Director U Ba Myint said the Swiss company has already stepped in as a third party to review the feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay Electric Railway, submitted by China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEG). The managing director did not disclose the name of the Swiss company, but said the company will cover all their own expenses for the review.
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  Sin0 – Myanmar bilateral trade grows Starting from May-end when compared to the same period of previous months

  Trade between Myanmar and China through the Muse border drastically plunged in the early outbreak of coronavirus and it has rebounded starting from May-end, said an official of the Muse-Namkham Border Trade Chamber of Commerce. “The bilateral trade currently grows compared with the previous months. More than 500 trucks of imported/exported goods are flowing in and out of the Muse border. Myanmar primarily sends green grams, butter beans, various beans, mangoes, frozen fish and other export items, while motorcycles, peanut oil, mobile handsets, construction machines and auto parts are imported, said vice president 1 U Tun Oo of Muse-Namkham Border Trade Chamber of Commerce.
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  Myanmar’s Government Economic Recovery Plan (CERP) attempted to ensure the export competitiveness and investment climate of Myanmar remains upbeat

  Market-oriented economic policies adopted by Myanmar has accorded a prominent role for the private sector. Foreign direct investment and promotion of trade and exports are seen as critical pillars of the country’s economic growth. Opening up of Myanmar economy, removal of sanctions and global trade liberalization through WTO have been positive developments that Myanmar has been able to utilize over the past few years. However, more needs to be done to accelerate investment, trade and exports. Foreign trade remains relatively small compared to ASEAN peers. Enhancing Myanmar’s capacities in terms of trade negotiations, integration of Myanmar into regional value chains and export investment promotion measures to attract FDI has been supported by development partners including trade-related specialist agencies like International Trade Centre (of UN and WTO). Efforts are also being made by state and regional governments to attract FDI and promote exports including cross border trade. A more recent development in this arena is to work towards the development of the second National Export Strategy (2020-25). Being finalized, the focus of NES 2020-2025 is export diversification into higher value-added manufacturing, market-oriented agriculture and services. Several initiatives and plan of actions have been initiated in this regard. However, these need to be now calibrated with the changing reality of the economic impact of COVID-19. One may recall that World Bank has warned as early as during end Mar’20 that “ Myanmar is facing headwinds to growth from its exposure to the COVID-19 related slow down in China and the world”.
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  The actual foreign investment flowed to Myanmar reached over USD $ 2,766 million though approved USD $ 4,250 million in the 2018 – 2019 fiscal year

  Although Myanmar approved a total foreign investment of over US$4,520 million in 2018-2019 fiscal year, an actual flow of investment from 28 countries amounted to just over US$2,766 million, according to a summary report on the activities of Myanmar Investment Commission during the period from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. MIC held 21 meetings in the previous financial year discussing investment matters. In the period, MIC approved 282 new businesses with a total investment of US$2,764.128 million and an additional investment of US$1,394.346 million to the existing 97 businesses.
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  Myanmar’s corn exports to Thailand through borders exceeded over 1.2 million tones during October and May period

  Myanmar’s corn exports to Thailand significantly soared to over 1.2 million tonnes through borders between Myanmar and Thailand during October and May period, said an official of the Ministry of Commerce. So far, Myanmar has exported about 2 million tonnes of corns to foreign countries. The sharp increase in export volume is attributed to the growing demand from Thailand this year. Earlier, China is the major purchaser of Myanmar’s corn. Later, Myanmar traders turned to the Thailand border market. Additionally, Myanmar exports corn to India, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines through maritime trade. Yet, the volume of corn exports to those markets is quite small. In the current fiscal, Myanmar has shipped over 500,000 tonnes of corns to external markets through maritime trade.
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  Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MOHT) invited tender application for Karaweik Palace

  Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has invited tender applications for iconic Karawaike Palace and 3.5 acres of land in Kandawgyi Lake in Yangon. The Karaweik Palace and the land were leased to Zakabar Company Limited in 1999 for 20 years. The palace’s rental agreement is set to end in August 2020. Thus, the ministry is looking for bidders. Any interested investors can submit the application until July 8, according to the tender invitation published in the state-owned media. Zakabar Company Limited holds the permit to operate Kandawgyi Park, which encompasses Karaweik Palance and its land, at the annual rental fee of K30 million, which Yangon Regional Auditor General’s 2014-2015 fiscal year report pointed out being too low. Then, the rental fee was doubled to K60 million per year in 2015.