New investment law to blend existing ones: MIC

He said the new investment law will fuse the Foreign Investment Law and the Myanmar Citizen Investment Law to become one and correct weaknesses in both.

“The reason we are trying to amend and combine the laws is that complexity in the Myanmar Citizen Investment Law is causing confusion and misunderstanding to people,” Zeyar Aung said yesterday, identifying red tape as one of its main weaknesses.

“People don’t want the law because it requires so many unnecessary steps and procedures. Businesspeople want to avoid these.  For example, an investor has to prove that he owns a land to run a business [on it],” Zeyar Aung explained.

 Despite tax exemptions and relief, as well as guarantees for citizens who invest in registered businesses, people are not paying much attention to the law, he said.  

They also think the Foreign Investment Law has more benefits than the one for Myanmar investors, he said, adding that combining the two will clear up confusion as well as reduce complexity.

Some independent economists have also warned that the two laws are over generous in the tax breaks given to businesses. They have argued that these reduce the government’s ability to collect revenue, and say that long-term investors are more likely to be attracted to Myanmar if it upgrades its infrastructure, improves its workforce and ensures logistics networks are efficient.   

 

Govt approves bid to upgrade Mandalay airport 

 

A proposal to upgrade Mandalay International Airport has been approved by the government and submitted to the Myanmar Investment Commission, said Win Swe Htun, director general of the Civil Aviation Department.

The department has concluded formal talks between Mitsubishi-Jalux and its Myanmar partner SPA Project Management, the consortium that last year won the tender to upgrade and operate the country’s second-largest airport.

The airport in central Myanmar is to be upgraded into a logistics hub. The move is part of a masterplan developed by the Ministry of Transport that aims to re-establish Myanmar as a major aviation and logistic hub in Asia. The plan calls for the liberalisation of economic regulations, the strengthening of air linkages to and from other parts of Asia, Europe and the United States, the promotion of local airlines and upgrading of infrastructure. Currently, Yangon International Airport can handle 6 million travellers annually. A new airport international airport serving Yangon – Hanthawady International Airport – is also planned. A Korean contractor won the tender to build the airport, but subsequently backed out of the project. 

Routes connecting Mandalay to 12 major cities across the country now operated from the airport, which has been seeing about 20 per cent growth in traffic annually over the past few years. About 80,000 international visitors and 500,000 Myanmar nationals passed through the airport in 2012.

The Mitsubishi-Jalux consortium was selected from seven short-listed firms in the final round of the tender. SPA Project Management is a subsidiary of Yoma Strategic Holdings.

 

Hotel warned over advert that demeans staff

 

The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has issued a warning about misleading advertising at the Vintage Luxury Yacht Hotel. The advert in question showed a photograph depicting the hotel staff kneeling down to serve customers. This prompted strong criticism through social media, such as Facebook.

The ministry dispatched its officials to look into the matter late last week. Hotel management said it had already removed the picture and that it would avoid a repeat of such mistakes.

The ministry cautioned the hotel not to provide misleading information on services being offered because foreign visitors might have get the wrong impression of Myanmar customs and traditions. The ministry will take legal action against the hotel if it fails to heed the warning, officials said. 

“The ship [converted to floating hotel] is decorated with ancient designs. The hotel’s services are billed as those fitting for a King and a Queen. We warned the hotel officials about their services. The hotel used the photo only for advert,” the official said.

“The photo was taken during staff training before the hotel opened. This happened under a former Italian manager and staff who are no longer with the hotel. They resigned for fear of having to offer such services. The ministry checked and found out that the hotel’s services were normal, said a ministry official. To ensure hotel service standards, the ministry said it has so far sent out warnings to 1,036 licenced hotels, guest houses and tour operators. 

 

Investors sought for ICT City in Yangon

The construction and management of ICT City in Yangon will be carried out by foreign investors, according to the Myanmar Computer Federation, which is pioneering the project for software development.

“We initially intended to carry out the IT park project, but it was too big. So ICT City will be mainly for software development. We will invite foreign investors for project implementation. We want the project to become the outsourcing hub for the software industry and not just for renting office rooms,” said Zaw Min Oo, an executive at the federation. 

The federation’s current office is at Myanmar Information and Communication Technology Park, which serves small-sized software companies.

“We want to attract start-up software companies. There will be furnished office space of about 7,000 square feet. We will seek advice from those in the software industry. The rental would be about Ks 50,000 per room. We will provide tables, chairs, electricity and Internet connectivity. We will hold further discussions on the design of offices and on whether to provide 24-hour service,” federation member Chaw Chaw Khin said.