ข่าวเศรษฐกิจและธุรกิจประจำสัปดาห์

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  KBZPay launched its new quick access loans to drive business growth for agent and merchants in Myanmar

  KBZPay has launched Quick Access Loan, a new short-term financing product, to help its agents and merchants improve their cash flow so they can better serve customers and grow their businesses. With the aim of driving financial inclusion, Quick Access Loans have been made available to all KBZPay Partners, who can access instant credit of K300,000 without collateral, guarantors, or application fees. There is further potential for KBZPay Partners to increase their credit limit up to K2,500,000, according to KBZPay. The loan applications would be processed at KBZ Bank branches and would take a few minutes, according to KBZPay. Using the Quick Access Loan function in the KBZPay Partner App, successful applicants will be able to drawdown funds from the line of credit according to their requirements.
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  Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry is drafting the new law, a secured transactions law to help set up Myanmar credit market

  The Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry is drafting a Secured Transactions Law with assistance from the International Finance Corporation, U Htun Zaw, Deputy Director General of the Financial Regulatory Department, said. The aim of the legislation is to facilitate the establishing of a modern and formal credit market through which borrowers can take loans using a broad range of moveable assets as collateral and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises have better access to financing. The new law also provides for a formal registry for moveable collateral and recourse in the event of disputes regarding the rights to collateral.
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  The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) will auction treasury bonds to finance the budget deficit on 21 January, 18 February and 17 March 2020

  The Central Bank of Myanmar will auction treasury bonds to finance the budget deficit on January 21, February 18 and March 17. U Maung Maung Win, Deputy Minister of Planning, Finance and Industry, told the Upper House of Parliament in August 2019 that the government would fund the budget deficit through government bonds and treasury bills. According to the government’s fiscal policy statement, 50 percent of the deficit will be covered by the sales of treasury bills, 21 percent by treasury bond sales and 29 percent by foreign borrowing. Local banks, foreign bank branches, securities underwriter firms and insurance firms are eligible to bid for the two- three- and five-year treasury bonds.
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  The industry watchers expected to see more activity in Myanmar’s wholesale and retail market this fiscal year

  Industry watchers are expecting the wider presence of foreign supermarkets and retail malls in Myanmar in the coming year. “The market has been developing quickly. So, I think that within the next one or two years the wholesale and retail market landscape will expand,’’ said U Myo Htwe, Managing Director of Pro 1 Global Company, a retail joint venture between local and Thai investors. “Most foreign investors are focusing on the wholesale area because this takes less time and risk compared to retail,” said U Myo Htwe. But this will quickly change. “Over the next two years, we will see much more activity from the retail players in the domestic market, after the foreign investors have studied the conditions and trends,” U Myo Min Aung, a local businessmen in the retail and wholesale industry.
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  Yangon Regional Investment Committee approved 49 investments proposal of local and foreign in the first three months of 2020 fiscal year

  The Yangon Regional Investment Committee approved 49 investment proposals during October 1 to December 18, 2019. Two of the approved proposals, worth a combined K2.045 billion, are from local investors while the rest are for foreign direct investments worth $80.722 million in total. The approved investments are expected to create 26,750 jobs for local people. The majority of the investors behind these proposals are from mainland China and the rest are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, British Virgin Islands, India and Europe. Their investments are destined for garment manufacturing, bag-making, hat-making, production tapes, plastics and packaging materials, sportswear manufacturing and screen printing, among other businesses.
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  Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) plans to digitalise its services to speed up processes and reduce corruption risks

  The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) plans to digitalise all its services to speed up processes and reduce corruption risks. “Company registration was changed to digital system in 2018. Next step is for the whole DICA to become digital,” U Thant Sin Lwin, DICA director general, told The Myanmar Times. “It is for facilitation of the process and assistance to anti-corruption measures and to be of international standard in activities. About one month ago, an instruction to make all payments by cards or online system was released,” he said. In August 2018, DICA launched its electronic registry system, Myanmar Companies Online (MyCO), simplifying business registration and eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions.
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  The companies listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) disclosed mixed prospects ahead of foreign participation

  Companies listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) announced mixed prospects for 2020, the year Myanmar is set to allow direct foreign ownership of equities listed on the bourse. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar announced last July that non-Myanmar individuals and locally-registered entities would be allowed to invest in listed shares of up to 35 percent. Analysts expect the move to spark interest mostly from Yangon-based retail investors, with this to be followed by institutional investors when the bourse has more listings and a broader array of sectors represented by its listed equities. No official timeline was given but analysts expect such trading to begin in the first half of this year.
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  Myanmar labour organizations planned to propose an increase in the country’s minimum wage

  Labour organisations will propose an increase in the country’s minimum wage when the National Committee for Minimum Wage holds meeting later in the year. The Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM) has conducted a survey on the cost of living and the cost of health of a worker in Yangon, Bago, Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing regions and Shan and Kayin states. U Win Zaw, a central committee of the workers’ group, said they are inclined to propose K7200 (US$4.93) for eight hours work or K900 per hour work. At present, the minimum wage is set at K4800 for eight hours of work despite opposition from labour groups. The current wage is up for review in May this year. “We have received recommendations from CTUM, labour activists and other federations that the minimum wage should be raised,” U Win Zaw told The Myanmar Times.
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  Yangon Region Government is considering plans to use part of its own regional budget to promote tourism industry

  The Yangon Region government is considering plans to dip into the regional budget for the first time to fund growth of the tourism industry, Yangon Region Minister for Hotels and Tourism Daw Naw Pan Thinzar Myo revealed. “In other regions and states, some K200million in funds from local budgets was spent on promoting tourism. Based on Yangon’s population, the spending will be around that amount,” said Daw Naw Pan Thinzar Myo. The regional government will also take action to improve the tourism sector by cracking down on unlicensed tour operators and tour guides, and zero-dollar tourism this year, she said, adding that working committees made up of the relevant officials have already been formed for the effort. In addition to exploring and developing new tourist destinations in Yangon Region, there are several plans to resolve littering problem in areas frequented by tourists and ensure clean and adequate toilets. The overall cost to promote the tourism industry has is in the midst of being calculated, she said.
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  The first airport, Surbung airport in Chin State slated to begin its operation in June 2020

  Chin State—Surbung Airport, the first airport in Chin State, western Myanmar, is slated to begin operation in June, according to Chin State Chief Minister Salai Lian Luai. Chin State is currently only accessible by road. “Northern Chin State has started receiving more local and foreign travelers now but transportation is still poor and the airport will make the state more accessible. We are trying to open it in June 2020,” the chief minister told The Irrawaddy. The airport will also enable local residents to travel to other parts of the country more easily, he said. Construction of the airport is reportedly now 75 percent complete. The airport is being built on a 522-hectare plot in Falam Township, around 13 km from the town center. It will have a 1,830-meter-long and 30-meter-wide runway designed to handle takeoffs and touchdowns of ART-72 airliners, according to the Chin State government.