Competition in Myanmar’s telecoms industry is on the rise, with a new player set to enter the market as early as next year. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Myanmar’s telecommunications regulator, is expected to announce the results of its latest tender for a new nationwide telecommunications licence (NTL) before the end of the year, paving the way for a fourth…
Recent legislative amendments should help open Myanmar’s mining sector to foreign investment, with more streamlined entry procedures already in place and plans under way to bring regulations in line with international norms. Among the mechanisms introduced are longer-term mining licences, lower tax rates and changes to the current production-sharing model. Key amendments Approved in late 2015…
While major strides need to be taken to promote inclusive growth, critical developments across the country’s economy continue to heighten investor appetite. This was given a significant boost with the victory of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) over the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the November 2015 national elections. The NLD is expected to
After decades of dictatorship, Myanmar emerged as an unlikely beacon of democracy in South-east Asia in 2015, as the National League for Democracy (NLD), under former political prisoner and Nobel-Prize-laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, strode to a victory in November’s landmark election. With the government in Naypyidaw poised to hand over power in February 2016, elsewhere in the 10-member ASEAN bloc,…
In late November 2015 ASEAN signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, formally establishing a single market among the 10 ASEAN member states. Known as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the endeavour aims to integrate the region’s economies into a unified market of 620m people and with combined annual output of $2.4trn. Taken as a whole, the AEC’s population is larger than the EU’s (by more than…
In the run-up to Myanmar’s historic November 2015 national elections, public opinion appeared split as to what impact the results of the contest would have on the nation’s economy. “Everyone seems to think that the election is the beginning of Myanmar’s problems, or that electing new leadership will inevitably lead to more growth and economic expansion,” U Soe Win, the managing partner of…
In July 2015 the US-based fried-chicken restaurant chain KFC opened its doors for business in downtown Yangon, becoming the first Western fast-food restaurant chain in Myanmar. At the grand opening event and for a week afterward, locals lined up out the door and around the block. The fast-food restaurant’s evident popularity is just one of many recent signs that Myanmar’s middle class has grown…
In 2015 foreign banks started operating in Myanmar for the first time since 1963. A total of nine branch licences were issued. The licences will be highly restrictive at first, and the banks will only be able to do business in foreign currencies, they will be limited to one branch and they will not be able serve retail clients. The step is a key move towards liberalisation for the country, as it will…
For decades, the Myanmar oil and gas story was fairly simple. The country had well-established onshore fields, with some regional participation, and a few offshore fields, with regional participation and some legacy participation by international majors. Production was significant given the isolation of the country, and oil and gas was vital to Myanmar as a source of hard currency. Due to economic…
China has long been a significant player in Myanmar’s energy sector. Before recent political reforms, Western sanctions made the country of particular interest to China, which was willing to finance and build projects that companies of the West and Japan could not. Chinese companies also saw Myanmar as an attractive investment, owing to its rich and diverse natural resources, geopolitical importance…
