News
Yangon monitoring meningitis outbreak after 8-year-old’s death
Health officials have placed Yangon Region on high alert as a deadly meningitis outbreak appears to have spread from Mandalay. The Department of Public Health is monitoring all 44 townships following the death on March 18 of an 8-year-old girl in South Dagon township. Meningococcal meningitis ...
State, private and foreign banks to compete for SOE clients
Myanmar’s financial regulator has ended state-owned banks’ monopoly on providing foreign currency accounts for state-owned firms, opening a new market to private lenders – both local and international – that could potentially bring vast amounts of public money into the wider banking system. Keep reading ...
Myanmar fishing slaves in Indonesia to go home, ‘tip of the iceberg’
A final group of 24 fishing boat slaves is preparing to return home to Burma this week from Indonesia, aid workers said at a trafficking meeting in Bali, one of them calling the 1,200 slaves repatriated since last year the “tip of the iceberg.” Keep reading ...
Suu Kyi listed among NLD cabinet nominees
Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy chairwoman, was named on 22 March on a list of 18 Union-level ministers announced by Myanmar’s Parliament, all but ensuring she will be a member of the incoming government’s cabinet. Keep reading ...
In Arakan State, resource control fuels conflict
In a new report, Arakan Oil Watch has urged Myanmar’s incoming government to amend the Constitution in an effort to quell tensions between the military and the country’s ethnic armed groups. “Breaking the Curse,” released on 22 March by the environmental non-government organization, describes the “decentralization of ...
One villager’s struggle for justice at Heinda tin mine
For more than a decade, U Saw Dar Shwe has been fighting a battle against a Thai tin mining company which he says has irreparably destroyed his land. A smallholder areca palm farmer and ethnic Kayin, U Saw Dar Shwe has repeatedly refused compensation from Myanmar ...
HAGL launches second phase of Myanmar centre
Vietnamese developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai has started building the second phase of its landmark Myanmar Centre, which will include two office towers and five residential towers including serviced apartments and units for sale. Keep reading ...
UN agencies report continued food insecurity in post-disaster areas
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program , both UN agencies, released a statement on 17 March revealing that rural communities in western Myanmar are still enduring increased levels of food insecurity, particularly in areas recovering from natural disasters. Keep reading ...
UN rights official sets tough targets for new government
Myanmar’s United Nations-appointed human rights investigator has given the new government a 100-day challenge. The task list – starting from its first day in office next month – includes lifting restrictions on freedom of movement in Rakhine State, meeting a 30 percent quota for women ...
Dizzying trade deficit to greet Myanmar’s new govt
With figures topping US$5 billion, a widening trade deficit is likely to greet Myanmar’s new government on April 1, says the Ministry of Commerce. According to the ministry, the total trade volume reached $25.7 billion between April 2015 and March of this year. Import volume hovered ...
