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1. Business and Investment News 2. Basic Documentation on Trade and Investment in Myanmar 3. Trade and Investment Data and Statistics Suggested business and investment contacts in Myanmar
1. Business and Investment News
British Business Guide to Myanmar
Latest News and Comment
Reuters: 12 April 2012
A review of the principal oligarchs in Myanmar and their business interests.
UK firms in secret talks on joining Burma gold rush Helping Myanmar Financial Times Editorial - 27 February 2012 It is welcome that the international community is responding to political reform. It will bolster the position of pro-reformers - reducing the possibility of a backlash by hardliners - and sends a message to pariah states, including North Korea, that change can bring tangible benefits. Still, both the pace of re-engagement and the amount of aid flowing into the country need to be carefully monitored. The risk is that, with the dam wall of international opprobrium bursting, aid will pour into Myanmar faster than it can handle it. Read more....
House of Commons - Written Answer 20 February 2012: Burma  Valerie Vaz (Walsall South, Labour): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which UK companies have approached the Government to express an interest in investing in or trading with Burma. Jeremy Browne (Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Taunton Deane, Liberal Democrat): We are aware that a number of UK companies are interested in investing in or trading with Burma. For reasons of commercial confidence, it would not be appropriate to comment on the nature of any contact we have had with UK businesses, or to name those companies with whom we have had contact. However, our policy remains that the British Government do not encourage trade and investment in Burma and offers [sic] no commercial services to companies wishing to trade or invest there. Derek Tonkin writes: The UK is probably the only EU country not to offer support and advice to traders and investors. Both those who do (26 countries) and those who don't (1 country) would however argue that their policy is consistent with EU 'Decisions'. Rush for Burma's hidden treasure Michael Sheridan - Sunday Times 12 February 2012 Burma is rich in oil, gas, timber, gems, minerals and agriculture, and its 60m population, long locked out of Asia’s consumer prosperity, offers a potential market the size of Thailand or Vietnam. Its strategic location gives China a trade bridge to the Indian ocean. When road and rail links are built, Thailand will be able to send exports by land to a gigantic new port, envisaged at a cost of $50 billion (£32 billion). The story line is fine - except for one thing. Sanctions imposed by America and the European Union have shut out every heavyweight multinational, leaving the commercial field open to competitors from China, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea. Japanese trading houses and companies are “zooming in on Myanmar [Burma] as a land of opportunity”, the Nikkei news service reported in Tokyo last week, listing nine companies already engaged there. Meanwhile, British companies with a strong presence in Asia, including Standard Chartered, BP, Prudential and HSBC, are reduced to waiting on the sidelines, wary of a public and political backlash if they are seen to be rewarding the generals who still dominate Burma behind the scenes.
Burma opens for business Asia Sentinel - 10 January 2012 “I would think every US company active in Asia is already looking following Clinton’s visit. Japan, South Korea and India are already in town, kicking the tires,” said Rob Lacey of Asia Plus Securities, a Thailand-based securities brokerage firm. He suggested companies like Nike and Pepsi, which pulled out of the country in the mid-1990s under pressure from activists, would be well placed to resume business activities. “I believe that many former corporate relationships can be dusted off and restarted quickly. In fact, several never really went away – they weren’t contravention of the sanctions, they just put the signs inside for fear of poor publicity.” An analyst at one institutional investor described a “tsunami wave of cash” heading towards the country but for now the excitement is manifested in scouting trips, with businessmen battling package-tourists for rooms in Rangoon’s handful of international standard hotels. A steady stream of business delegations, from countries including South Korea, Germany and the Netherlands, has visited the country in recent months. This week, Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano is heading a delegation that includes officials from top Japanese companies such as Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsui, Itochu, JX Nippon Oil & Energy and Marubeni, Reuters reported. Derek Tonkin comments: While the US and most EU countries are now giving their companies quiet encouragement to assess the Myanmar market, the UK continues to discourage trade, investment and tourism. Although some of Britain's leading economists see the sanctions policy pursued by the UK as massively counterproductive and inimical to the interests of both the UK and the Burmese people, the British Government's perception is that the Burmese people have not yet been punished enough for the misdemeanours of their leaders and that they must be made to suffer further until the UK's righteous indignation is thoroughly assuaged. Suu Kyi foresees democratic Burma, comments on foreign investment Fergal Keane interviews Suu Kyi: BBC News - 5 January 2012 On the issue of foreign investment, Suu Kyi made the following points: Fergal Keane: In terms of the international community and sanctions, is it now time for economic engagement with Burma? Do you believe the time has come? ASSK: It depends on what you mean by economic engagement..... Fergal Keane: I mean, should people invest here? ASSK: .......Linking economic engagement with sanctions, it's not necessarily linked, because, for example, the EU does not really have a ban against investments, certain countries discourage investment, but the reasons why people are not investing in Burma now is because of reputation. Fergal Keane: Would you be more comfortable though with the idea of people from Britain, for example, coming here to invest now? ASSK: It depends on how and in which fields they're going to invest. We've made it quite clear that we are keen on good investment, meaning not just ethical investment, but investment in fields where it is really necessary. Note by Network Myanmar: It is not clear what is meant by "really necesary" investment. Investment in support of the economy would cover both the public and private sectors, including, tourism, light industry, services including banking and insurance, natural resources, transport, education and health. At its present stage of development from a very low base, almost all responsible investment could be regarded as "necessary".
Western investors target Burma Underscoring the renewed interest in Burma, Rangoon’s top hotels are full of visiting business delegations, and many multinational companies are looking for advice on doing business in Burma, particularly in the oil and gas, telecoms and consumer goods sectors.......
As optimism abounds, Krung Thai Bank set to beat a path to Burma Doing business in Burma Reuters - 8 December 2011
The article presents a bird's eye-view of business and investment propsects in Myanmar today. Most noticeable is the change of atmosphere to one of optimism about the future, based on assumptions that sanctions might have gone by 2013 and that the trend to reform will continue.
2. Basic Documentation on Trade and Investment in Myanmar New Foreign Investment Regulations for Myanmar Exclusive: The New York Times - 16 March 2012 The NYT reveals the main elements of new Foreign Investment Regulations which are likely to be approved by Parliament during the current session expected to conclude by the end of March 2012. These include:
In-depth country risk report - Myanmar
Maplecroft - 6 February 2012. Recent political developments have pushed Myanmar to the centre of 2012’s strategic landscape, with governments and businesses in Asia and the West closely monitoring the accelerating reforms taking place there. A consolidated version of the Law was published in 1993 together with "Procedures Relating to the Union of Myanmar Foreign Investment Law" under Notification No. 11/88 of 7 December 1988, with amendments. Notification 1/89 of 30 May 1989, with amendments, contains a list of sectors available for foreign investment.
Courtesy of Myanmars.net and apparently dating from 2000. For those seeking an up-to-date guide, we recommend Asia Business Guide - Myanmar (Web Version) available on subscription.
A note prepared by staff attorneys at International Business Law Services - February 2010
COFACE Country Profile - Myanmar
The UK branch of the French credit guarantee organisation COFACE (Compagnie d'Assurance pour le Commerce) provides a country profile for exporters. COFACE rate Myanmar in the highest risk category - "D". UK Trade and Investment Advice on Burma The UK Government discourages trade and investment in Myanmar. Their stance however has been largely discredited. Sanctions against Myanmar have been debunked as ineffective by such authorities as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner ("serve no useful purpose"), US Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell ("We can pose some modest inconveniences"), and Member of the Central Executive Committee of the National League for Democracy U Win Tin ("Sanctions are not effective"). Consequently the rationale for sanctions - that they represent leverage on the military regime and should not be lessened until there is progress on political reform - can be shown to be illogical and counterproductive. Some argue that the regime welcomes Western sanctions precisely because they are ineffective and thus help the regime to allege to the population that their lamentable standard of living is entirely due to Western sanctions, when this is not the case.
Myanmar approves "Special Economic Zone" law Reuters - 28 January 2011 Special Economic Zone Law comes into effect on 27 January Foreign banks negotiating to open operational branches 3. Trade and Investment Data and Statistics Doing Business in Myanmar - February 2012
A 16-page basic guide on business and investment in Myanmar Basic Data on Myanmar Compiled and reguarly updated by Network Myanmar
Myanmar Central Statistical Organization
Data provided by DG Trade European Commission as at 18 January 2011
Data provided by DG Trade European Commission as at 18 January 2011
Statistics on trade, investment and tourism with ASEAN, China and Japan
The paper presents the current state of Burma's economy, and explore the reforms that will be necessary in the event of political change. A Burma Economic Watch study by Sean Turnell.
Nicky Black: University of Waikato New Zealand - Doctoral Thesis in Strategic Management
From 2006 to 2009, Nicky Black conducted 125 interviews in 7 countries on the impacts and responsibilities of oil and gas companies in Myanmar. From these interviews she developed an action-oriented theory of corporate citizenship, presented in her Strategic Management PhD thesis. The thesis analyses (i) the drivers for more 'responsible' corporate engagement in Myanmar, (ii) regional differences in corporate engagement, (iii) stakeholder views - including those of Myanmar civil society - on how corporate engagement can be constructive, and (iv) the role of energy security in regional engagement with Myanmar. The research was undertaken with the aim of encouraging constructive corporate engagement in Myanmar, and in other fragile states. As such, the full thesis, and separate chapters are provided for download, so that they may be read as widely as possible. Nicky Black is a Member of the Board of Management of Network Myanmar.
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