Week in Review: Myanmar

Land leads the list, said the poll which was published on Thursday to mark the International Human Rights Day, as land practices remain opaque. 

Meanwhile, human rights defenders – workers’ represenatives, farmers, community leaders and citizens – still faced harassment. 

Public participation should also be promoted as Myanmar welcomes more foreign investment.

 

US fund buys spirits maker

Global private equity firm TPG Capital bought a 50 per cent stake in Myanmar Distillery, the country’s largest spirits maker, according to Wall Street Journal.

Myanmar Distillery, which has manufacturing plants in Yangon and Mandalay, makes whiskey, rum, gin and wine coolers that are sold through about 1,300 wholesalers and 21,000 retail outlets across Myanmar. This is TPG’s second acquisition in Myanmar within a year, CNBC reported, following a US$40 million injection into Apollo Towers. 

 

MNA flies to Hong Kong 

Myanmar National Airlines started a flight service to Hong Kong on December 4. Hong Kong is its second overseas destination, following Singapore. The Yangon-Singapore route started in August.

 

Share trading to start in March

The Yangon Stock Exchange has opened but share trading is expected to start in March.

Six companies – First Myanmar Investment, First Private Bank, Myanmar Citizen Bank, Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Ltd, Great Hor Kham and Myanmar Agri-business – are the first to list on the bour-se. Trading period is set for 9am and 1pm.

 

IFC helps microfinance 

The International Finance Corporation will invest US$1.2 million for a 15 per cent stake in Fullerton Finance, a local finance company for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Fullerton Finance aims to grow its |customer base 20 fold from 10,000 customers to 200,000 customers by 2021.

Only 30 per cent of the country’s population tapped finance services last year. World Bank aims to raise the ratio to 70 per cent by 2020. 

 

$2.6-billion trade deficit 

Myanmar had a US$2.6-billion trade deficit in the first eight months of this |fiscal year, according to the Commerce Ministry.

At the end of November, Myanmar’s export value stood at $7.2 billion while imports reached $9.9 billion. 

Of total imports, the country spent more than $5.1 billion on investment products, over $2.8 billion on industrial raw materials and over $1.8 billion on consumer goods.

 

2m more tourism jobs expected

The tourism sector will create more than 2 million more jobs within the next five years, says Tin Tun, general secretary of the Myanmar Tourism Federation. This is based on the assumption that annual tourist arrivals would hit eight or nine million in the upcoming years. 

Sector training courses have been launched. 

 

Five jailed for ‘squatting’

Five people aged from 44 to over 60 were given one-month prison sentences for squatting on government land, despite their claims that they have lived on the land for decades. 

“They have been living there for generations. They have lived there for more than 40 years. I told this to the court as a witness. Daw Hli was born there. I don’t know how the court made its decision. The rules are their rules. The victims got nothing in compensation and are sentenced to prison,” said Hla Saung, the administrator of Tharyarkone village where three “squatters” resided. 

 

Ceasefire pact approved 

The Union Parliament unanimously approved the nationwide ceasefire agreement with eight ethnic armed organisations in Nay Pyi Taw. 

Last week, General Sai Hsu from the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP) said that despite skirmishes that erupted in October, the group remained keen to end the conflict that started in early October.