News
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 ...
US officially terminates sanctions order
After imposing economic sanctions on Myanmar for nearly two decades, the US formally abolished the blacklist on October 7. US President Barack Obama signed an executive order terminating the sanctions, following his pledge to do so made when State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited ...
USAID backs MFIs with $10m guarantee
USAID kicked off a seven-year program to guarantee over US$10 million in microfinance loans to the agricultural sector on September 20, as part of a new US effort to offer greater economic support to the country. The US development agency has signed a multi-bank loan portfolio ...
China media: opposition to hydropower dams in Myanmar is “extreme”
Opposition to Chinese-invested hydropower schemes in Myanmar is being orchestrated by “extreme” groups in the country and has been extremely damaging to joint investment projects, an influential Chinese newspaper wrote on September 19. The suspension in 2011 of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone mega dam project by former ...
Industry leaders enthused by reinstatement of US trade benefits for Myanmar
Businessmen, industry leaders and members of government have expressed enthusiasm after statements from President Barack Obama that the US would soon re-admit Burma to the Generalized System of Preferences. President Obama notified the US Congress on September 14 that it would reintroduce Myanmar to the preferential trade scheme ...
Hydropower commission probes Myitsone contract
The commission to scrutinise hydropower projects along the Ayeyarwady River has met with the Ministry of Electric Power and Energy to learn more about the contractual agreement with a Chinese state-owned firm underpinning the suspended Myitsone hydropower project in Kachin State. The commission held its second ...
The pivot toward closer India-Myanmar ties
India and Myanmar have gone to great lengths to paint President U Htin Kyaw’s recent four-day visit as a historic cementing of bilateral ties. The neighbouring countries’ relations, long overshadowed by China’s more aggressive overtures, have forged ahead under the National League for Democracy-led administration. U ...
China promises to shore up border as foreign minister’s trip ends
Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has ended her five-day trip to China, returning to Yangon on August 21st. The visit, which came after an invitation from China’s Premier Li Keqiang, was Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s first major overseas trip since the National League ...
