Foreign direct investments in Myanmar rose 18% during the full year ended March 31, with the capital inflow fueled by economic growth expectations for a country making a historic break from its military-led past.
About $9.48 billion worth of foreign investments were approved, data by Myanmar's investment authority shows. The amount is dwarfed only by the roughly $20 billion logged in fiscal 2010, which was marked by a series of investments by Chinese enterprises in hydroelectric power projects. The government started keeping records in fiscal 1988.
Fiscal 2015's figure, however, is the largest since Myanmar started undergoing democratic reforms in 2011. Not only did relations with the international community improve, but the foreign investment law put in place by the previous administration of President Thein Sein also contributed. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)
April 20, 2016
Arakan National Party in Turmoil
Tensions are rising sharply between the National League for Democracy and the Arakan National Party over the appointment of a chief minister in Rakhine State.
The NLD refused to yield to demands that the next chief minister be from the ANP, which has a plurality in the state assembly but is short of an outright majority.
More than 500 ANP supporters gathered in the state capital, Sittwe, on March 23 to demand that the NLD abandon its plan to appoint as chief minister the party’s state chairman, U Nyi Pu, an ethnic Rakhine. Nyi Pu was appointed at the beginning of April.
The demonstration against the NLD’s plan for Nyi Pu, one of nine party members elected to the assembly in November, was led by the ANP’s Sittwe Township chairman, U Aung Mya Thein. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
The NLD refused to yield to demands that the next chief minister be from the ANP, which has a plurality in the state assembly but is short of an outright majority.
More than 500 ANP supporters gathered in the state capital, Sittwe, on March 23 to demand that the NLD abandon its plan to appoint as chief minister the party’s state chairman, U Nyi Pu, an ethnic Rakhine. Nyi Pu was appointed at the beginning of April.
The demonstration against the NLD’s plan for Nyi Pu, one of nine party members elected to the assembly in November, was led by the ANP’s Sittwe Township chairman, U Aung Mya Thein. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida may head to Myanmar for talks with Aung San Suu Kyi
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is considering visiting Myanmar during the Golden Week holiday period and holding a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, it was learned Tuesday.
He would be Japan’s first Cabinet minister to visit Myanmar since the new administration led by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was launched last month.
Through the envisaged meeting with Suu Kyi, who is Myanmar’s prodemocracy icon and now serves as state adviser, Kishida hopes to help Japan speed up efforts to establish a relationship of trust with Myanmar, sources familiar with the matter said. (Courtesy of The Japan Times)
He would be Japan’s first Cabinet minister to visit Myanmar since the new administration led by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was launched last month.
Through the envisaged meeting with Suu Kyi, who is Myanmar’s prodemocracy icon and now serves as state adviser, Kishida hopes to help Japan speed up efforts to establish a relationship of trust with Myanmar, sources familiar with the matter said. (Courtesy of The Japan Times)
Robert Taylor: Reframing Myanmar's governance debate
Myanmar's new government headed by the National League for Democracy has said one of its top priorities is to end the country's armed ethnic rebellions, which stretch back in various forms to the 1930s. The government surely faces no greater challenge in embedding the new civilian administration and ensuring future national prosperity than finally achieving peace throughout the country.
The biggest obstacles in securing that peace are demands for decentralization and greater autonomy being made by groups in resource-rich states dominated by local ethnic populations. The government has taken its first steps to resolve ethnic conflicts by creating a national minister for ethnic affairs and promising to introduce a national policy to teach ethnic minority languages based on a program drawn up by UNICEF. However, none of these ideas are new. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)
The biggest obstacles in securing that peace are demands for decentralization and greater autonomy being made by groups in resource-rich states dominated by local ethnic populations. The government has taken its first steps to resolve ethnic conflicts by creating a national minister for ethnic affairs and promising to introduce a national policy to teach ethnic minority languages based on a program drawn up by UNICEF. However, none of these ideas are new. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)
Time to 'demilitarize' Myanmar businesses
Myanmar's military-owned companies are looking to privatize now that the country has a new, democratically elected government bent on establishing a transparent market economy.
On March 31, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, or UMEHL, the country's largest military-owned company, said it had applied to the Ministry of Planning and Finance to become a "public company" under the country's companies act. UMEHL is currently a government-affiliated "special company" under the special company act.
The aim is to make it easier for the company to draw money from private investors by allowing part or all of its shares to be traded without restrictions. Among Myanmar's major private companies, some 200 are registered as public companies. Their shares can be traded over the counter and owned by foreign companies. Only public companies can be listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange, Myanmar's first stock exchange, which opened in late March. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)
On March 31, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, or UMEHL, the country's largest military-owned company, said it had applied to the Ministry of Planning and Finance to become a "public company" under the country's companies act. UMEHL is currently a government-affiliated "special company" under the special company act.
The aim is to make it easier for the company to draw money from private investors by allowing part or all of its shares to be traded without restrictions. Among Myanmar's major private companies, some 200 are registered as public companies. Their shares can be traded over the counter and owned by foreign companies. Only public companies can be listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange, Myanmar's first stock exchange, which opened in late March. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)
Bringing traditional Indian dance to Myanmar
Deboo, a pioneer of modern dance in India, is a contemporary choreographer and dancer, who employs his training in Indian classical dance forms – Kathak and Kathakali – to create a dance form that is unique to him. His work has been seen in seventy countries and a critic sums his work as 'poetry in motion'.
Deboo has performed at the Great Wall of China, with Pink Floyd in London, and at the 50th anniversary of the American Dance Festival. He was commissioned by Pierre Cardin to choreograph a dance for Maia Plissetskaia – prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, and has given command performances for the royal families of Japan, Sweden, Bhutan and Thailand. He was also the first contemporary dancer to perform at the Elephanta and Khajuraho festivals in India.
During his visit, he sat down with Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint to discuss his visit and his work. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Deboo has performed at the Great Wall of China, with Pink Floyd in London, and at the 50th anniversary of the American Dance Festival. He was commissioned by Pierre Cardin to choreograph a dance for Maia Plissetskaia – prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, and has given command performances for the royal families of Japan, Sweden, Bhutan and Thailand. He was also the first contemporary dancer to perform at the Elephanta and Khajuraho festivals in India.
During his visit, he sat down with Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint to discuss his visit and his work. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Dinner with the Princess of Burma
On the evening of March 24, Princess Hteik Su Phaya Gyi, granddaughter of King Thibaw, the last King of Burma, addressed the Yangon Rotary Club. The last time the princess, 92, had addressed the club she was 16 and she spoke about recent student protests that had left one student dead. Among her audience was Reginald Dorman-Smith, the Governor of Burma.
For her second address at the club, 76 years later, the place was packed again – at least by the standards of its weekly meetings. Club members and journalists (including this one) leapt at the opportunity to see a member of Myanmar’s royal lineage.
“I just had a little bit of an understanding of the background from history books, but I didn’t know they were living in the city,” said Sam Britton, a club member. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
For her second address at the club, 76 years later, the place was packed again – at least by the standards of its weekly meetings. Club members and journalists (including this one) leapt at the opportunity to see a member of Myanmar’s royal lineage.
“I just had a little bit of an understanding of the background from history books, but I didn’t know they were living in the city,” said Sam Britton, a club member. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Myanmar military officer killed in clashes with ethnic armed group in western state
A Myanmar military officer was killed and some wounded in clashes with an Arakan ethnic armed group in the western Rakhine state at the weekend, official media reported on Tuesday.
One battalion commander was killed and several others injured as members of the Arakan Army (AA), disguised as villagers, ambushed a military column, the Defense Ministry said.
Another clash took place while the military was launching a combing operation after receiving tip-off that a 100-member AA contingent entered an area near Kyauktaw town of the state early this month. (Courtesy of Shanghai Daily)
One battalion commander was killed and several others injured as members of the Arakan Army (AA), disguised as villagers, ambushed a military column, the Defense Ministry said.
Another clash took place while the military was launching a combing operation after receiving tip-off that a 100-member AA contingent entered an area near Kyauktaw town of the state early this month. (Courtesy of Shanghai Daily)
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