ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

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  Myanmar Economic Bank will provide loans under a special program for SMEs, which focus on export and have a direct effect on economic development

  Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) will provide loans under a special program for SMEs, according to its notice on January 29. The notice said that the bank will prioritize services focusing on export and having a direct effect on economic development, and SMEs what the state and regional governments recommended. The bank will prove up to K300 million loans to any individual or organization working on SMEs with the annual interest rate of 9 percent, with a three to five year repayment. SMEs that receive loans must use 50 percent of loans as fixed capital (fixed assets are such things as land, buildings, vehicles, plant and equipment), and the other 50 percent as working capital, according to the notice.
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  SCG announced 2017 Operating Results as satisfactory, thanks to the company’s strategy of being promptly adaptable to change in the market and consumer needs

  SCG began business in Myanmar more than 20 years ago. They have 340 employees as of Q2/2015 and operate as importers of cement and other building materials. SCG announced the 2017 Operating Results as satisfactory, thanks to the company’s strategy of being promptly adaptable to changes in the market and consumer needs, as it prepares to continue to expand its service business. Despite risks such as costs of raw materials and energy, the strengthening Thai Baht, and regional competition coming this year, the company focuses on a strategy of collaborations with digital startups and equipping employees to be adaptable to change, as well as an expansion of its service and logistics business. This will help SCG to stay competitive. Meanwhile, its investments in ASEAN are progressing according to plan.
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  Korea backed industrial complex will be built on 550 acres in Hlegu Township, Yangon, and will be partially finished in 2019

  A Korea backed industrial complex will be built on 550 acres in Hlegu Township, Yangon. The construction of the complex will start this year and is expected to be partially finished in 2019, according to the Department of Urban and Housings Development under the Ministry of Construction. ‘‘We have signed the agreement for the project on June 16, 2017. Now we are working on the designs, conducting soil experiments and developing infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads. We will finish a portion by 2019,’’ U Win Naing, Deputy Director of the Department of Urban and Housings Development, told Myanmar Business Today.
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  Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a survey on the implementation of basic infrastructure needs for Dawei SEZ

  YANGON- A team led by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is making a survey on the implementation of basic infrastructure, such as a deep sea port and electricity supply, in Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Taninthayi Region. This is according to Dr Tun Naing, Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, who is also chairman of Dawei SEZ Management Committee. JICA will be drawing up a report on project development in the SEZ to a June deadline. The Dawei SEZ Management Committee was formed on October12, 2016. It comprises 12 members who are delegates of respective ministries and foreign experts and Dr Tun Naing as chairman. The Thailand-based Italian-Thai Development Company started the SEZ project in 2008. After four years, the company reported financial difficulties and the Myanmar and Thai governments had to intervene. The project was suspended temporarily in November 2013. The two governments signed a MoU in August 2015 for the construction of a two-lane road, water supplies, three power plants, a town plan, a telecommunications centre, a small port and a 27 square-kilometer SEZ.
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  Directorate of Industry Supervision and Inspection under the Ministry of Industry and a Korean firm, JEONBUK Root Industrial Association (JROOT) signed a MOU in Yangon to promote industrial development

  A Korean firm, JEONBUK Root Industrial Association (JROOT), cooperated with Ministry of Industry of Myanmar to promote the industrial development. JROOT signed the MoU with the Directorate of Industry Supervision and Inspection under the Ministry in Yangon on Saturday. According to the MoU, JROOT will provide the technical valuable advice and solutions for the Myanmar Industrial Companies by analyzing and formulating solutions for research and development and industrial barriers. Secretary General, JEONBUK Association for Root Industry, Jeongsu Kweon said “We came to Myanmar in the first month of 2017 to provide support for Myanmar’s industry. That is why we decided to sign the MOU. We want to help the industry of Myanmar improved by offering the equipments and technologies.” JROOT will support the Ministry of Industry till 2021 by sharing their technology and donating the equipments that are in need.
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  In order to meet rising demand from households and businesses, government looks to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports to produce more electricity by 2020

  For the first time, Myanmar will import liquefied natural gas (LNG) as it races to meet an expected shortage of electricity. By 2020, the country will require double its current electricity supply to meet rising demand from households and businesses. The Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) on January 30 issued a Notice to Proceed to four power projects, three of which will receive imported LNG for re-gasification. The projects will be carried out in Kan Pauk in Tanintharyi Region, Mee Laung Gaing in Ayeyarwady Region, and Ahlone in Yangon Region. “The LNG will be delivered by LNG carriers for re-gasification and power generation at the plants. The plants have been allowed to commence doing so,” said U Soe Myint, deputy permanent secretary of the MOEE. The fourth project, which involves natural gas, will be carried out in Kyaukphyu, Rakhine State. The projects are expected to help generate around 3,000 megawatts (MW) of power, double the country’s current supply, to meet the MOEE’s 6,000MW electricity target by 2020-21.
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  Genomic rice breeding practices in Myanmar will be initiated with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

  Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Myanmar’s agricultural research department are set to implement a genomic rice breeding initiative. U Naing Kyi Win, director general of the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI), and JICA signed a Record of Discussions (R/D) in Nay Pyi Taw on January 30 to launch a five-year project to strengthen rice breeding based on genomic technology. The representative from JICA was Kenichi Shishido, director general of the DAR. This JICA-funded project will introduce paddy genetic breeding to the country in order to develop high-yield and pest and disease-tolerant rice varieties. In the five-year span, research institutions in both countries will carry out joint activities to create promising rice lines suitable to rain-fed lowlands and uplands, as well as to enhance Myanmar’s existing breeding method. On the Japanese side, the agriculture faculty at Kyushu University and the bioscience and biotechnology centre at Nagoya University are involved.
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  Index Creative Village Plc shifts its focus to digital marketing and communications to promote business expansion in Myanmar

  CHANGES In the behaviour of people in Myanmar have driven Index Creative Village Plc to shift its focus from offline to online in a bid to expand its business in the neighbouring country. Kreingkrai Kanjanapokin, founder and group CEO of Index, said in an exclusive interview that the firm would focus on its new lines of business - digital marketing and communications, in Myanmar this year. “Now everything is online, and you can get connected all the time. You cannot survive if you cannot create new things,” he said. “Events will never die. But people who create events have to learn more to use digital media. That is why we push for the hybrid. We have to combine digital and events together and create a linkage between online and offline.” He said it was a good opportunity to bring our experience and know-how to use in the market, and to serve the businesses that wanted to effectively use social media in Myanmar.
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  Vice President U Myint Swe attended the 14th Private Sector Development Committee meeting and discussed efforts to raise Myanmar's ranking in Ease of Doing Business

  Private Sector Development Committee held the 14th meeting with entrepreneurs at UMFCCI in Yangon on Thursday. Chairman of the Private Sector Development Committee Vice President U Myint Swe pointed out that the committee implemented 209 points reported by entrepreneurs, endeavoring to raise the ranking of the Ease of doing business indicators. He stresses the importance of resolve to overcome the difficulties and obstacles for the private sector development. Vice President, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, H.E. Myint Swe said “The government has been working on the private sector development since 2016, organizing 5 working committees. Small and Medium enterprises make up 99 per cent of the country’s economic force. They are important in the development of the nation. All of us have to cooperate to develop the private sector.
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  Karen National Union (KNU) demands negotiations with the Union government over plans to resume highway linking Thai border and Dawei Special Economic Zone

  The Karen National Union has demanded negotiations with the Union government over plans to resume building a two-lane highway between the Thai border and the Dawei Special Economic Zone in Tanintharyi Region. The KNU said in a statement on February 1 that the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement it signed in October 2015 stipulated that the government “must negotiate” with signatories over the implementation of socio-economic development projects. The KNU, one of eight armed groups that signed the NCA in 2015, said that if work resumed on the highway, it would cut through pristine forests and rural communities under its control. It said the government announced plans to resume work on the highway after reaching agreements with the Thai and Japanese governments on December 2 last year. The KNU acknowledged that the project was an opportunity to demonstrate that socio-economic development projects in ethnic areas could provide significant benefits to local communities while protecting their security, culture and the natural environment.