Trade & Investment
From The Report: Myanmar 2019
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Benefitting from a large population, an ideal geographic position and abundant natural resources, Myanmar’s trade and investment volumes hold enormous potential for future expansion, although the country is facing both domestic and external challenges. Foreign direct investment inflows soared from 2011, upon the country’s economic liberalisation and democratic transition, although they have slumped recently in the wake of ongoing restrictions on foreign business activities, delayed legal reforms and rising international scrutiny of domestic conflicts. Trade volumes have expanded considerably since 2011, supported by strong agricultural output, energy exports and expansion of the labour-intensive garment. However, imports continue to outpace exports and the potential withdrawal of EU trade privileges has darkened the near-term outlook. This chapter contains interviews with U Than Myint, Minister of Commerce; U Zaw Myint Maung, Chief Minister, Regional Government of Mandalay; Patrick Ip, Managing Director, China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund; and Hiroyuki Ishige, Chairman, Japan External Trade Organisation.
Articles from this Chapter
Outwards and upwards: New policies are creating a friendlier environment for foreign companies and investment
Open for business: U Than Myint, Minister of Commerce, on trade with China and opportunities created by global protectionismOBGplus
Interview :U Than Myint How is Myanmar’s economy set to benefit from increasing demand from China? U THAN MYINT: undefined In recent years Myanmar has put in place key reforms that affect the overall trade environment, integrating our economy with the global system and encouraging private participation in international trade, and also facilitating access to trade financing. As a result, trade openness, measured as total export and import value over GDP, has increased steadily, and the ratio…
Foreign ownership: New measures are expected to stimulate flagging investmentOBGplus
Although Myanmar’s economy has grown above the regional average in 2018, a fall in overseas investment, crop losses and a weakening of the kyat have combined to slow the pace of economic growth. However, moves to open up sectors of the economy to foreign ownership may boost inward investment in the coming year. According to estimates by the Asian Development Bank released in September 2018, Myanmar’s economy was on track to expand by 6.6% in 2018, accelerating to 7% in 2019. Despite being well…
Broad offering: U Zaw Myint Maung, Chief Minister, Regional Government of Mandalay, on boosting international connectivity and leveraging the region’s assetsOBGplus
Interview :U Zaw Myint Maung Which features make Mandalay stand out as an attractive investment destination? U ZAW MYINT MAUNG: One of the region’s biggest business assets is export-oriented agri-products, such as beans, pulses, rice, fruit and vegetables. For example, we have over 15 different varieties of mango, which are in high demand in Russia, China, South Korea and Japan. Another distinctive feature of Mandalay is its culture of entrepreneurship: the region’s business network contains…
Incentives for growth: Development of three special economic zones continuesOBGplus
Offering a range of attractive investor incentives, Myanmar’s special economic zones (SEZs) hold significant potential to attract new foreign direct investment (FDI), support industrialisation and manufacturing activities, and boost employment and export receipts. The country’s sole operational facility, the Thilawa SEZ, has already become a magnet for FDI inflows, with its second phase of development attracting significant investor interest. Two larger-scale developments, Dawei SEZ and Kyaukphyu…
Growing connectivity: Patrick Ip, Managing Director, China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund, on priority areas for financingOBGplus
Interview :Patrick Ip As Chinese foreign direct investment increases, which sectors of Myanmar’s economy stand to benefit most in the short to medium term? PATRICK IP: Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China is particularly interested in investing in infrastructure and IT development in other countries, although investment is not restricted to these areas. This is not expected to be any different in ASEAN. With respect to investment in Myanmar, Chinese developers are experienced…
Strengthening ties: Hiroyuki Ishige, Chairman, Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), on consolidating Japanese investmentOBGplus
Hiroyuki Ishige : Interview In terms of both exports and investment, which industries in Myanmar have benefitted the most from trade relations between Myanmar and Japan? HIROYUKI ISHIGE: Approximately 90% of exports from Myanmar to Japan are garments and footwear, with the remaining 10% constituting agricultural and fishery products. In recent years, Japanese investment in Myanmar has been increasing and gradually diversifying in a range of industries, including those related to trade; consignment…
In good company: The long-awaited passing of the Myanmar Companies Law is opening doors for foreign businessesOBGplus
One of the most significant legal reforms undertaken to improve the investment climate in Myanmar has been the promulgation of the 2017 Myanmar Companies Law (MCL), which sets new criteria for company classification and is expected to help boost foreign direct investment inflows, which have slumped in recent years. After a lengthy delay, the new law came into effect in August 2018, marking an important step forward for investor-friendly reforms for foreign companies to register and commence operations. New…
Business Barometer: Myanmar CEO Survey:OBGplus
Government efforts to open up the economy and stimulate private sector development appear to have made a good impression on the majority of executives who participated in the Business Barometer: Myanmar CEO Survey. Of the 100 respondents, 77% indicated that their firm intends to make a significant capital investment in 2019, while 64% have positive or very positive expectations of local business conditions. Despite these sentiments, however, access to credit remains a perennial problem, with 83% describing it as difficult or very difficult. Additionally, business executives indicated a lack of leadership skills and infrastructure as constraints…
Is Myanmar still an attractive investment destination?OBGplus
Despite fierce domestic and international headwinds that have threatened to blow the Myanmar economy off course, executives who participated in the Business Barometer: Myanmar CEO Survey remain broadly confident about the investment climate in South-east Asia’s last great frontier market. Of the 100 respondents, 77% indicate their firm intends to make a significant capital investment in 2019, while 64% have positive or very positive expectations of local business conditions. The survey was conducted face-to-face in Yangon at a time when Myanmar was facing international scrutiny into the unrest in Rakhine State, as well as severe pressure on…
Global village: Medium-term prospects suggest globalisation is set to continue for the foreseeable futureOBGplus
Decades of growth in trade and foreign investment have made economies around the world more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. The production of goods and, increasingly, the provision of services have become fractured across borders as corporations create and integrate into regional and global value chains. These trends have been reinforced by the steady liberalisation of international trade and investment regimes, at the bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral levels. National specialisation in economies of comparative advantage, and regional economic and political integration, have proceeded in one direction, broadly speaking,…
Global village: Medium-term prospects suggest globalisation is set to continue for the foreseeable futureOBGplus
Decades of growth in trade and foreign investment have made economies around the world more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. The production of goods and, increasingly, the provision of services have become fractured across borders as corporations create and integrate into regional and global value chains. These trends have been reinforced by the steady liberalisation of international trade and investment regimes, at the bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral levels. National specialisation in economies of comparative advantage, and regional economic and political integration, have proceeded in one direction, broadly speaking,…
