News
Teachers call for better security after educator’s murder
Teachers around the country demonstrated on January 22 calling for better protection of educators after one of their colleagues was abducted and shot dead in Kachin State’s Hpakant township. Primary school teacher U Aung Zin Tun, who was assigned to Hpakant township’s Nantmaphit village, was reportedly ...
Commerce ministry cracks down on unreported export earnings
The Ministry of Commerce is working with the Central Bank to crack down on unreported export earnings, according to Union minister U Than Myint. The government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to try to counter the volatile US dollar-kyat exchange rate, which has prompted widespread complaint ...
Myanmar, Malaysia agree over aid flotilla
The flotilla spat appears to have come to an agreeable end. Myanmar has permitted a group of Malaysian organisations to send aid earmarked for Rakhine State after an official permission request was forwarded to the president, and a delegation smoothed over the arrangements on January ...
Nickel and Dimed on frog mountain
Our motorbikes crossed flimsy bamboo bridges in western Sagaing Division, a landscape still showing the devastation of 2015’s floods. Shifting gears up a twisting, muddy hill trail took us over the border to Chin State. There, several villages are tucked into the forested slopes of ...
Will Myanmar lose its Irrawaddy dolphins?
Tears fill U Maung Lay’s eyes as he describes losing the dolphin he knew since his childhood, the latest casualty of a battle against pollution and electrofishing that may see the species disappear from Myanmar. Loved for generations for corralling the catch into fishermen’s nets, ...
Sembcorp takes another step on Myingyan project
Singaporean energy firm Sembcorp signed a build-operate-transfer agreement with Myanmar’s energy ministry on January 18 for the Myingyan power plant, a high profile energy project expected to receive loans from a variety of international lenders. Tan Cheng Guan, Sembcorp Industries’ head of group business development and ...
Trade groups raise traffic concerns as Yebu gate reopens
The Yebu border trade inspection gate on the Lashio-Muse road has reopened for the first time in over five years as the government tries to honour a commitment to ending illegal trade. But inspecting hundreds of vehicles at a single small gate has resulted in ...
Japan signs agreement to give ODA five projects in Myanmar
Japan signed an agreement in Nay Pyi Taw on January 18 to provide Official Development Assistance to Myanmar for five projects worth US$824 million, according to the Japanese Embassy in Myanmar. The ODA is set to be used for the renovation and maintenance of Yangon-Mandalay ...
Thai delegation to visit for talks on expanding trade, investment
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Mr Somkid Jatusripitak is due to lead a business delegation to Myanmar early next month on a visit aimed at expanding bilateral trade and investment, the Bangkok Post reported. It quoted Mr Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, ...
Villagers demand investigation into gold mines
Mandalay farmers have staged a sit-in for the past four days in protest of gold mines they claim have encroached on their land. The Wet Tae village residents are demanding the government suspend the mining activities until the conclusion of an investigation. They also called for ...
