WHO ARE THE REAL WINNERS OF MYANMAR’S LATEST OIL AND GAS BLOCK SALES?

Myanmar: Revival of the Lost Kingdom

Myanmar still requires extensive reform before investors will jump in with both feet, but noticeable progress is underway.

Myanmar is one of Southeast Asia’s poorest economies, with a per capita GDP of $868. Despite its strategic location—sharing a border with India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand—Myanmar was isolated from the rest of the world until 2011, ruled by a military junta since 1962.

The general election of 2010, a landmark event for the country, was Myanmar’s first step toward the transition from military rule to a “civilian” democracy. But the opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi boycotted the elections, citing widespread electoral fraud. Moreover, a parliamentary committee in Myanmar recently rejected a proposal to amend a constitutional clause that prevents the pro-democracy leader from becoming president.

Two Telecoms Race To Wire Myanmar

Only a tiny number of people in Myanmar have mobile phones. Even fewer have access to the Internet. But that hasn’t stopped word of BarCamp from quickly spreading. BarCamps–informal gatherings of grassroots geeks who come together to listen to one another give talks on technology–are usually publicized via online social networks. Since the first one in Silicon Valley less than a decade ago these Information Age talkfests have been held in 350 cities. In January of last year Yangon drew the biggest crowd for any BarCamp worldwide, some 6,500 people. More than 5,000 attended this year’s gathering.

Myanmar rising

“This is Burma and it is unlike any land you know about.”—Rudyard Kipling. I nodded in agreement when I came across Rudyard Kipling’s famous quote about Burma in his Letters from the East. Describing Myanmar, also known as Burma, as unique is an understatement. After all, this is a fascinating multi-ethnic nation that’s waiting to be brought to its full potential.

I came to Myanmar last March as part of the East-West Center’s 2014 Jefferson Fellowship Program. Even though the goal of the trip was to show us how Myanmar is taking steps to open its doors to the global community, we were told not to keep our expectations up. My group (composed of foreign journalists from US, Pakistan, India, China, Taiwan, and Indonesia) was warned that our credit cards, ATM cards and mobile phones may not even work here. We were even told to carry bug spray or any mosquito repellant as precaution against dengue.

Banking for a democratic economy?

Global media outlets were swift to report earlier this month that the Central Bank of Myanmar will grant foreign banks limited operating licences this year, but they have been deaf so far to questions raised in Myanmar’s business community about who will benefit from this move.

Will those who now pay exorbitant interest rates to domestic banks get a break, or will the crony-dominated banking industry become even stronger, squeezing even more funds from the country’s small- and medium-sized enterprises. SMEs account for the lion’s share of economic activity in the country, and could become the main drivers of a more diverse economy that will be a key component of a genuinely democratic country, economists say.

Myanmar opens doors to the world

There are lessons that Malaysia can learn from Myanmar’s journey, as much as Myanmar had learnt from us.

MY first visit to Myanmar was in 1985 – it was at a time when the country was still struggling to find its footing from years of internal strife and international disdain.

There is really no need to describe a country in this situation, where its political and economic struggles are visible in the streets and in the villages and the sad effects of poverty stare you in the face.

Over the years, I had the opportunity to visit Myanmar a few times. During my last visit a month ago, I noticed immediately a new vigour, a new energy and drive in Myanmar – I’d like to call it ambition.

U.S Economic Engagement with Burma

MYANMAR : CAPITALIZING ON RICE EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES

Banking on Myanmar - A Strategy for Financial Sector Reform

A Little Too Off the Beaten Path in Burma

It only took three days to hike a remote route to Inle Lake, but the spontaneous trek turned into a wild adventure filled with monks, a fired guide, and a land untouched by tourism.

The bus from Yangon deposited us at our destination in the dark and cold early hours when most people are still asleep. That’s what we had hoped to be doing, but a locked gate stood between us and the unlit guest house where we had planned to catch a few hours of rest. Tired, hungry, cold, and stranded in the middle of a mountain village, we realized our trek through Burma’s Shan State was turning out to be even more spontaneous than we had planned.

Myanmar: A perfect opportunity for Japan

Three weeks ago I returned to Yangon, where I had lived for over three years as a boy, for a brief sojourn as visiting professor at Yangon University. The flame trees, which blossom with the rain, color the sky with a beautiful red at the beginning of each rainy season, just as I had remembered them half a century ago. Much else, however, had radically changed, and not necessarily for the better.

Investing in Myanmar: Balancing risk and reward (Part 2)

Although quite involved and not inexpensive, the process of investment in Myanmar can be very rewarding

In Part 1 of this article, we reviewed the Myanmar investment considerations of a U.S. investor as they are impacted by U.S. legislation and practice. This article continues the analysis by examining the “on-the-ground” investment considerations in Myanmar, including its Foreign Direct Investment Law of 2012 (FDI) and Foreign Direct Investment Rules of January 2013 (FIR), banking issues, and other aspects of investment.

Investing in Myanmar: Balancing risk and reward (Part 1)

With the relaxation of legal impediments to doing business in Myanmar, the investor should consider the prevailing risks… and how to overcome them

Conventional wisdom suggests that investments in emerging markets can provide rich returns, compensating for the heightened legal, regulatory, political and cultural risk assumed. Going one step further, it is possible that investment in a true frontier market, such as Myanmar, can offer the opportunity for even greater rewards… provided that the investor understands the local landscape and learns how to minimize the related risks.

Myanmar dream

AFTER the second world war, many Asian countries had to undergo a series of nation-building exercises. Almost all of them were torn apart by war: buildings destroyed and lives extinguished. It took strength, courage and creativity to restore these nations to their former glory and, most importantly, rebuild them better than they were before. Citizens came together for a common cause, to once again have a place to call home.

After years of isolation, Myanmar has re-engaged with the international community. A new civilian government came to power and quickly rolled out a series of reforms. International communities have taken an active role in rebuilding Myanmar. I have also seen armies of expats returning to Myanmar, eager to restore their country to greatness.

Myanmar’s islands are Asia’s hottest new destination - but they’re still deserted

THE thing about Myanmar’s Myeik (Mergui) Archipelago is there are no tourists.

Written off by the British, then sealed off by Myanmar for almost half a century, the Myeik Archipelago is finally open to foreigners - but only those on selected tour groups.

Keen to escape the daily grind, I’ve joined an Intrepid Travel group on a sleek new catamaran sailing through this lost world for five days.

As the southern Myanmar city of Kawthaung slips out of view, the drone of civilisation is replaced by the sound of trade winds stirring leaves and puny waves lapping deserted white-sand beaches. Occasionally, I see signs of other people - the distant lamps of a squid fishing boat or some sea gypsies from Myanmar’s ethnic Moken group paddling wooden canoes.

Burma's investment rush is leaving the poor majority behind

Fewer than 30% of people in Burma have access to electricity, and investment is vital. But the danger is this will come at the expense of the poor

U Mya Hlaing sits on a bamboo floor in his rural home an hour down the river from Yangon, explaining how in a short time, he expects to lose it in the name of development. His fields of paddy rice, along with those of his village and neighbours, have been designated as a special economic zone. They will be bulldozed to make way for the flagship development project of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in co-operation with the Myanmar government and Japanese and Myanmar companies. Electronics and garments factories will replace his homestead.

Myanmar Faces Challenges Developing its Upstream Assets

Following the award of a much anticipated tender for offshore petroleum exploration blocks in Myanmar at the end of March, successful oil and gas companies are now preparing themselves to handle challenges expected to arise from exploring in unchartered waters in the Bay of Bengal and in the Andaman Sea.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Energy awarded 20 of the 30 oil and gas blocks – comprising 19 deepwater and 11 shallow water blocks – that were available under the country’s Offshore Bidding Round - 2013 March 26.

Global interest in tapping Myanmar’s hydrocarbons resources, especially gas – which has been estimated by BP Statistics Review of the World to contain 7.8 trillion cubic feet in 2012 – had been intense.

US renews limited sanctions on Burma

US President Barack Obama renewed limited investment sanctions on Burma on Thursday, signing the ongoing “National Emergency” situation on the country for at least one more year.

The move prohibits US businesses and individuals from investing in Burma or doing business with military, government officials and any others associated with repression of the democracy movement since the mid-1990s.

In a statement issued by the White House, Obama noted the significant progress the Burmese government has made in certain areas, but cited ongoing conflict and human rights abuses in ethnic minority areas, particularly Arakan State, as reasons for the renewal of sanctions, as well as the continued role of the military in Burma’s political and economic activities.

Keys To Myanmar by DLA Piper

Myanmar's Tourism Boom Endangers Fragile Ecosystems

The country has opened its doors to tourism and all that goes with it: hotel construction, pollution, waste—and perhaps ecosystem loss.

The morning sun shoots rays over the tops of the steep hills surrounding Inle Lake that pierce the mist rising from the waters. Egrets and coots glint white in the sky overhead and glide off into the deep green marsh.

Silhouetted against the newly risen sun are fishermen in their wide-brimmed, conical hats. They paddle by twisting a leg around their oar and balancing on the end of elegant, hand-carved pirogues, creating a picture postcard of Myanmar, also known as Burma.