Weekly Business News from Myanmar

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  Cosmetic brand Maybelline collaborates with local online shopping website 'shop.com.mm' as its online retail partner

  Under the terms of the partnership, Maybelline products will now be available on shop.com.mm with special offers at “Maybelline Shop”. The complete range of Maybelline products will be available for purchase at the website, shop.com.mm claimed.
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  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) to give a USD 100 million loan to improve a 66.4-kilometer section of road in Kayin State, connecting Eindu with Kawkareik which is the missing link of the East-West Economic Corridor

  The state’s chief minister told The Myanmar Times earlier this year he is ready to move on from conflict and isolation, with his hopes resting on the delayed East-West Economic Corridor, a project backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The 1450-kilometre (900-mile) highway will link Vietnam with Laos and Thailand, passing through Kayin State to the port of Mawlamyine.
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  The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to offer loans of Kyat 5 billion to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Yangon, Pathein and Mandalay in December

  The government has agreed with the JICA to take two-step loans at an interest rate of 0.01 per cent with funds going to the government and then to domestic banks for redistribution among SMEs. An official from the SMIDB said: “The JICA will grant loans of Ks5 billion to the SMIDB in December. The JICA will check cities for loan disbursement. We have prioritised Yangon, Pathein and Mandalay for the loan scheme.”
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  Hotels are sprouting across Myanmar to provide adequate accommodation to the increasing number of tourists across the country: Myanmar Hoteliers Association

  A total of 340 hotels are operating across the country in 2015, compared with 290 in 2014, according to U Tin Win, chairman of the Myanmar Hoteliers Association.
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  Myanmar's Ministry of Construction is drawing a new master urban development plan for 56 cities and towns across the country

  “Yangon alone is developing in Myanmar. That’s why we have to allow other cities to get attention from investors. Yangon's population is expanding disproportionally,” Daw Moe Thida added. Yangon is over five times as large as Mandalay, and its population is expected to double in the next 15 years. In neighboring Thailand, Bangkok is has grown to over 20 times as populous as the next largest city. According to the 2014 census, Yangon region has a relatively high population density with 716 people per square kilometer, followed distantly by Mandalay with 200.
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  Myanmar's second city, Mandalay, is ripe for expansion in the real estate market: Colliers International

  Mandalay is a sprawling city, composed mainly of houses with few high-rises, and Colliers expects to have fewer than 1000 units even into the end of 2017. Fewer than 6 percent of households live in high-rises, compared to 17 percent in Yangon.
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  Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) will change the auto telephone numbers to updated exchanges in order to give better and upgraded services to customers

  MPT said that IP system NGN (Next Generation Network) Mayangone (SoftSwitch) exchange will be replaced with MSAN (Multi Service Access Node), while Kyimyindaing RSU numbers (50xxxx, 51xxxx, 52xxxx, 53xxxx) of Hanthawaddy S-12 exchange will be changed to Mayangone (SoftSwitch) exchange numbers (931-7xxx) on November 20
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  Malaysia-based GrapheneNanochem will put its latest product, GrapSolve, to the test in the field for a national oil company in Myanmar

  It is a paid trial under the group’s deal with ScomiOiltools and the product is due to be used in three wells in work due to complete in the first quarter of 2016, the company said in a statement. GraphSolve is used to treat drill cuttings waste on-site, thereby ridding the costly need to transport and treat material away from the well. Drilling generates between 300MT and 600MT of cuttings per well. GrapheneNanochem claimed that the latest product can reduce treatment costs by between $70 and $200 per MT of cuttings.
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  Myanmar Railways (Naypyitaw) will call for a tender to build multi-storey car parks and apartments on their acre of land behind Thamada cinema in Yangon

  Myanmar Railways (Naypyitaw) said it will call for a tender to build multi-storey car parks and apartments on their acre of land behind Thamada cinema. Every interested person or company can submit a tender application starting from November, MR said in a statement. “We are doing this to reduce traffic congestion. York [Yaw Min Gyi] street is very crowded. That’s why we intend to build a car park. School buses will be able to park and traffic congestion will be somewhat resolved,” said U Ba Myint, general manager of Myanmar Railways (Naypyitaw).
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  The European Union and Myanmar government have pledged to strengthen cooperation on climate change ahead of the adoption of a new global climate deal in Paris this December

  In a workshop on climate change, the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry together with other ministries, civil society representatives, the private sector, and the EU and other development partners, discussed the draft National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan in Myanmar. The Plan is supported by the Myanmar Climate Change Alliance, a flagship programme of the government to increase its institutional and technical capacities to address climate change. In addition to taking stock of the progress so far, key elements of the strategy and action plan were agreed upon by the participants with a view of presenting these at the Paris conference.