Myanmar Times
New day dawns for Yangon bus system
Today it begins – Yangon’s brand new experiment in public transport. In a major step toward reducing consumer chaos and hazardous competition among private bus lines, the number of routes has been reduced to only 61, starting on January 16. On January 14, Yangon Region Chief ...
Youth, women key to economic growth
To join the “Asian Tiger” economies of the neighbouring countries, Myanmar must invest more in its youth, the UN Population Fund has said following a new examination of demographic trends from the 2014 census. “A unique window of opportunity opens when there are more people ...
Special rapporteur barred from Laiza, Hpakant
Just a few days into her fifth visit and the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar has already encountered a few bumps in the road, with the government blocking her from going to Laiza and Hpakant, in Kachin State. Yanghee Lee and her ...
Tanintharyi tourism committee to draft master plan
A Tanintharyi development committee, operating under the tourism ministry and chaired by local tycoon Serge Pun, is drawing up a master plan for sustainable tourism in the region. Tanintharyi boasts the Myeik archipelago, a cluster of more than 800 largely untouched islands that hold huge ...
Yangon bus system overhaul set to start
Yangon’s infamous public bus system – where commuters are dragged by callous conductors onto ageing vehicles operated by drivers with scant regard for road safety – is about to change. A long-awaited transformation of the bus network, which some 80 percent of the commercial capital’s ...
Rakhine commerce minister sees bright future for black bean exports
The Rakhine State commerce minister is hoping around 10,000 tonnes of black gram beans will be exported to India from Sittwe this year, pending completion of the Kaladan Multi-Model Transit Transport Project. The Kaladan project will connect Mizoram in India to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine ...
Govt evicts Nansibon jade mine scavengers
Jade scavengers who have allegedly overrun mines operated by private companies in Hkamti township have been ordered to move out by the government, with a combat police battalion standing by to enforce the ban. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation gave the itinerant ...
Kayin landmine scare sparks tourism fears
A tripwire triggered landmine set off on January 4 and believed to be a remnant of recent skirmishes that subsided in November, has injured two and sent shockwaves through the Kayin State tourism industry, as well as buttressed displaced residents fears that it is still ...
Government holds off on paddy purchases
The Ministry of Commerce is suspending plans for a paddy purchase program due to a recovery in market prices, according to ministry spokesperson U Khin Maung Lwin. U Khin Maung Lwin told The Myanmar Times in the first week of December that the ministry had approval ...
Rubber price rebound prompts some farmers to restart production
Myanmar rubber farmers and producers battered by months of low prices are enjoying some respite following a recovery in global markets last year. With weak local demand Myanmar’s rubber industry is at the mercy of world markets, and low prices throughout 2015 and much of ...
