News
Myanmar weighs merits of India bean agreement
India is playing hardball with Myanmar’s beans and pulses sector, pushing for a per-tonne deal that falls well short of domestic market rates. Assistant director of the Ministry of Commerce U Khin Maung Lwin confirmed that Myanmar and India are locked in negotiations over a proposed ...
WJP study: Rule of law improves slightly, still 98th out of 113
Myanmar is failing slightly less egregiously to maintain rule of law this year, according to the World Justice Project’s annual Rule of Law Index, which was released on October 20. The slight bump, from an overall score of 0.42 to 0.43 out of 1, is largely ...
State counsellor addresses Rakhine attacks while in India
“We as a nation are struggling to make the democratic culture take root,” State Counsellor Daw Aung Suu Kyi told reporters after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 19. The state counsellor was on her first official visit to New Delhi where she attended ...
Thai hospitality industry offers advice as Myanmar hotels eye boost in standards
A joint seminar on hospitality management development will be held on October 22, in a cooperative effort between the Myanmar Hotelier Association and Thai industry figures. The conference is to be held by Krung Thai Bank at Taw Win Garden Hotel, Hotelier Association joint secretary ...
More powercuts forecast for Yangon
Get ready for the blackouts. A regional minister has acknowledged that decayed powerlines and a surging demand for electricity will once again leave the commercial capital in the dark. Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation had hoped a handful of patchwork measures would help boost the supply but ...
Myanmar’s disappointing new investment law
A new investment law has been rushed through Burma’s Parliament, with the Upper House giving its approval on October 6. According to the Myanmar Investment Commission, the law is expected to take effect soon. Earth Rights International and other civil society groups are concerned that the ...
Aid delegation meets displaced Arakan State communities
A delegation from the United Nations, led by the under-secretary general of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, visited displaced communities outside of the Arakan State capital of Sittwe on October 14. Reporters from The Irrawaddy accompanied Stephen O’Brien, who also serves as ...
Production slowing at Wa Tin mine
Output from a mysterious Myanma tin mine that has disrupted the global market in the metal is falling sharply and deposits could be depleted in “two to three years,” senior mine officials told Reuters. A surprise discovery of large quantities of tin has propelled the formerly ...
Meteorologist advises smaller alternatives to Myitsone megadam
The former director general of the meteorology and hydrology department has proposed an alternative solution to the problem of the stalled Myitsone hydropower dam. Instead of building one destructive and publically reviled mega dam, why not build four smaller hydropower projects instead, he suggested on ...
Giant jade stone uncovered in Kachin State
A giant jade stone estimated to weigh 210 tons was uncovered in the jade mining hub of Hpakant in Kachin State last week and is now being guarded by police. “We can say it is the largest piece of jade ever unearthed in Myanmar,” confirmed U ...
