News
Nay Pyi Taw dam helps boost summer paddy plans
Nay Pyi Taw authorities are planning a 50 percent increase in the area of land set aside for summer paddy growing this year, according to an official from the region’s agricultural department. U Tin Oo Kyaing said the department is aiming to plant over 15,000 acres ...
Capital hoteliers address empty rooms
A lack of tourist attractions combined with overly-optimistic developers has left around 80 percent of Nay Pyi Taw hotel rooms empty on any given day. But the chair of a local tourism industry body believes better marketing can help the city improve its visitor numbers. U ...
Thein Sein recalls Myanmar's reform process
Former president says daunting challenges remain in Myanmar’s democratic transition. “I never dreamt of becoming president,” said Thein Sein, who stepped down as Myanmar president last year after a historic five-year term. Speaking at a regional forum in central Japan, he added that “the situation ...
Garment firms focus on social responsibility
Unions are welcome, and could help garment factories improve their corporate social responsibility functions, a leading manufacturer has said. U Aung Myo Hein, central executive committee member of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers’ Association, told The Myanmar Times that many factories in Myanmar had missed out on ...
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 ...
Yangon’s extreme poverty needs action: report
In a one-room hut in north Yangon, a middle-aged woman has a trick for those evenings when the children complain of hunger and she has run out of money and rice. “I ask them to drink extra water and go to bed,” said mother-of-seven Daw ...
Myanmar voices commitment to social development In Naga self-administered zone
Myanmar government has voiced commitment to the social development of the ethnic people in Naga Self-Administered Zone, northwestern Sagaing region, Myanmar News Agency reported Monday, according to China’s Xinhua news agency. President U Htin Kyaw made the pledge Sunday in his speech at the opening of ...
The Salween Peace Park: a radical, grassroots alternative to development in Karen State
A path has opened for environmental conservationists and rights advocates to strengthen their fight against gold mining and other socially and environmentally destructive projects in the rich forests of Karen State in eastern Myanmar: the Salween Peace Park. The 5,200-square-kilometer Peace Park is a radical ...
Mines rules to be submitted for govt review this month
The new Myanmar Mining Law could soon have regulatory teeth that support the implementation of the law and establish a state and Union power division in the licensing process, The Myanmar Times has learned. The Mines Rules, which will essentially provide the fine print details ...
Myanmar awards fourth telecoms license as mobile market heats up
Myanmar on January 12 awarded its fourth – and final – telecoms license to a joint venture between Vietnam’s telecom company Viettel and two local firms, heating up competition in a rapidly growing market by adding a second majority-Myanmar operator. Military-run Viettel will have a ...
