News
Scramble behind the scenes as Yangon Stock Exchange nears launch
Just a week before Myanmar’s first modern stock exchange is set to open on 9 December, a much-delayed announcement on the names of securities companies has not yet been made, underwriters have not received licences and domestic IPOs seem a distant dream. Ten companies have been ...
Woman MPs up, but hluttaw still 90% male
The number of women who will sit in the national parliament next year has more than doubled on current figures, but Myanmar looks set to remain at the bottom of the table in ASEAN for gender equality in national politics with women accounting for just ...
Myanmar navy seizes close to 50 unlicensed trawlers
The Myanmar navy has seized 49 trawlers caught illegally fishing in Myanmar waters since 2013, parliament heard on 30 November. Deputy Minister for Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development U Khin Maung Aye told MPs eight of the boats were from Thailand and the rest were local. ...
Yangon government faces transparency call on flyovers
Outspoken independent MP Daw Nyo Nyo Thin has called on the regional government to publicly reveal the true cost of controversial flyover bridge projects before the end of its term. She submitted the proposal at a special meeting of the Yangon Region Hluttaw on 30 November. ...
Conservative Buddhists donate to Kachin IDPs
Hard-line nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu has revealed that his Committee for the Protection of Race and Religion, known as Ma Ba Tha, is providing aid to displaced Christians in war-ravaged Kachin State. Ma Ba Tha said it had donated K6 million for internally displaced persons ...
Landslide risk survey seals fate of Chin capital
A Team of German geologists have confirmed that Hakha, the capital of Chin State, is too dangerous to live in. The team has deemed most of the city at very high risk of landslides, which are often caused by heavy rain. The survey is the first ...
UN warns of need to boost immunisation
The United Nations has called for an expansion of immunisation to combat the threat of polio and other preventable diseases, after two cases of a vaccine-derived form of the virus were detected in northern Rakhine State. The World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund said ...
President, Senior General to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on 2 December
Top-level talks on the transfer of power to Myanmar’s next government are to take place on 2 December. President U Thein Sein and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing released statements on 1 December saying they had agreed to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi separately on 2 ...
Thai Chamber urges bolder Myanmar approach
Thai businesses want the government to help them enter or expand into the Myanmar market by conducting more official visits to the neighbouring country, according to the AEC Strategy Centre at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. Centre director Pussadee Polsaram said more official ...
NLD urged to make environment a focus
After five years in which the government had concentrated on economic reforms, it was now time to protect the neglected environment, activists say. Speaking at a 25 November conference on environmental laws organised by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability, participants said the incoming government ...
