Weekly Business News from Myanmar

Myanmar Apex Bank (MAB) will allocate Ks 57 billion selected microfinance companies to support small businesses more
Myanmar Apex Bank (MAB) has allocated K57 billion to support selected microfinance companies that lend to small businesses, the bank announced on Wednesday. MAB is now supporting Fullerton Finance Myanmar, Proximity Finance Microfinance, Vision Fund Myanmar, Early Dawn Microfinance, and Pact Global Finance Microfinance Fund. “Microfinance companies play an important role in supporting small businesses in Myanmar and we are pleased to be the funding bank for these lenders. Small businesses will continue to play a vital role in creating employment opportunities in Myanmar,’’ U Zaw Moe Aung, deputy chief business officer from MAB, said during the signing ceremony.
Myanma Railways plans to hire consultants to supervise the quality and cost of work on USD $ 700 million Yoma Central project
Staff at the state railway enterprise say they lack the expertise to supervise the US$700 million Yoma Central project and need to bring in consultants to monitor the quality and cost of work. STATE-OWNED Myanma Railways plans to hire consultants to monitor the US$700 million Yoma Central project and ensure it is finished on time and according to the terms of the contract. Yoma Strategic Holdings, a Singapore-listed company controlled by Mr Serge Pun, leads the consortium behind the project, which it describes as “one of the most ambitious building developments in Yangon’s modern time”. Being developed on about 10 acres (4.6 hectares) of prime downtown land owned by Myanma Railways, the build-operate-transfer project will feature luxury residences, office towers, a business hotel and serviced apartments, and will also include the heritage-listed Burma Railways headquarters, built in 1877, which is being transformed into a five-star Peninsula hotel.
China’s Alibaba Group owned Shop.com.mm, an online shopping platform in Myanmar grew rapidly in Myanmar
Shop.com.mm, the online shopping operations in Myanmar owned by China’s Alibaba Group, is growing rapidly, company officials said. Frans Maas, managing director of Shop.com.mm, told The Myanmar Times the site is expanding at a rate of 10 times year-on-year. Shop.com.mm, an online shopping platform in Myanmar, provides online shopping across a variety of products to customers across Myanmar. It says it is empowering thousands of sellers to connect with millions of customers and provides immediate and easy access to 500,000 products in more than 100 categories. Alibaba acquired Shop in 2018, and soon began introducing new technologies to offer better user experiences with features such as a personalised product feeds, instant messaging between sellers and customers, flash sales, games, in-app customer service, collections, and seller recommendations.
Myanmar Government makes its efforts to get more foreign investments in the resource sectors in 2020
Myanmar will boost efforts to seek more foreign investments in the resource sector in 2020. Due to the refugee crisis in Rakhine over the past two years, some western countries have been hesitant to invest in the country. To address this, the government launched a 20-year Myanmar Investment Promotion Plan (MIPP) with a “Look East Policy”. However, investments under the plan have not met up with expectations. Currently, investments from Asian countries come mainly from China, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Western investments have been minimal and mainly in oil and gas and mining. The current situation makes 2020 a good year to boost foreign investments into the country’s resource sectors, said U Thaung Tun, Union Minister of Investments and Foreign Economic Relations.
GE Asia Pacific plans to start its expansion in energy and healthcare sectors in Myanmar
GE, the high-tech energy, health and aviation equipment provider, has plans to expand its reach in the Myanmar energy and healthcare sectors. “Myanmar has huge potential in terms of revenue and orders for GE. Myanmar needs healthcare and a lot of electricity. There are good prospects in natural gas production and solar energy sector,” Mr Wouter Van Versch, President and chief executive of GE Asia Pacific, told the Myanmar Times during a visit to the company’s John F. Welch Technology Center (JFWTC) in Bangalore, India this month. Mr Wouter added that “in the future, GE may come to Myanmar to invest in factories to support its expansion into healthcare and electricity production from natural gas.”
Myanmar and Thailand second friendship bridge cross Thaungyin river linking Myawady township of Kayin State with Mae Sot district of Tak Province was opened yesterday
Myanmar and Thailand officially opened the second friendship bridge that crosses Thaungyin River, linking Myawady Township of Kayin State with Mae Sot district of Tak Province yesterday morning. The opening ceremony of the bridge began with video clips on the project, followed by the explanations of the Director general of Road Department of Thailand. Director General of Bridge Management Department U Shwe Lay briefed on the construction of bridge.
Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) approved the proposal of Amata Group, Thai-backed industrial estate to develop a smart industrial estate project in Yangon
The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has approved Thai developer Amata Group’s proposal to develop a smart industrial estate project in Yangon Region. Amata Group is a Thai-listed developer headquartered in Bangkok known for its work on industrial estates. A meeting of the Myanmar Investment Commission on October 21 approved the development and operation of the project that will be overseen by Yangon Amata Smart Eco City Ltd. Yangon Amata Smart Eco City is an 80/20 joint venture company between Amata Group and the Ministry of Construction.
Analyst forecasts strong Thai Bhat could impact on Myanmar traders and consumers by making imports more expensive
The Thai baht has reached a six-year high against the US dollar and is now at around 30.2 per dollar. Of the four countries that share borders with Myanmar, Thailand is the second largest trading partner, with trade volumes during fiscal 2018-19 amounting to US$3.8 billion, according to government data. Just this month, the Central Bank of Myanmar and Bank of Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the use of the kyat and baht for trading at the border, according to an October 21 statement issued by the Bank of Thailand. As such, the appreciation of the baht could have an impact on Myanmar traders and consumers by making imports more expensive.
The volume of investment goods import reached nearly USD $ 290 million within two weeks of current fiscal year which downed USD $ 50 million when compared to the same period of last year
Investment goods import volume reached nearly US$ 290 million within two weeks of current fiscal year, down US$ 50 million compared with the same period of the same year, according to the official statistics of the Ministry of Commerce. From October 1 to 18 in 2019-2020 FY, investment goods import volume reached nearly US$ 289.361 million. The investment goods import volume reached US$ 340.321 million. The investment goods import volume downed US$ 50.960 million compared to the same period of last year. From 1988 to July of 2019, there were 1,779 investment businesses and 50 countries made investments in 12 economic sectors. Investment volume reached US$ 81.249 billion and Singapore stood at the top of the foreign investment table, followed by China and Thailand.
Local fuel prices continuously increased by Ks 40 – 45 liter in 20 days when compared to the same period of last year
Local fuel prices have continued to increase by K40 to K45 per liter compared to October 9 prices as global oil prices reach around US$56 per barrel, according to local filling stations. Global oil price jumped to US$76 per barrel on October 3, 2018. Then the price was down to around US$42 on December 24. This year, the price increased again to US$54 on January 21, US$52 on January 29, US$60 on March 20, US$64 on April 16, and US$66 on April 23. The prices decreased to US$51 on June 12 and increased to US$60 on July 10. Then, the price decreased to US$53 on September 3 and increased to around US$60 on September 16. The price on October 28 was US$56 per barrel. On October 28 in local market, maximum prices available at local filling stations were K965 for one liter of diesel (K4,387 per gallon), K975 for one liter of premium diesel (K4,432 per gallon), K865 for one liter of 92 Ron octane (K3,932 per gallon) and K955 for one liter of 95 Ron octane (K4,341 per gallon). The prices increased by K40 to K45 per liter compared to those on October 9.