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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week asked reporters why non-governmental organisations, environmental activists and academics continue to protest against the planned blasting of rapids in the Mekong River. He said many of these protesters are outsiders, meaning people who do not live by the riverside, do ...

Building owners in Mandalay will soon face hefty fines that may exceed the value of the buildings if the structures are built without permits or if they flout regulations, warned the Mandalay City Development Committee. From April 1, fines will be increased 75 percent for ...

The Yangon Regional government will revise its budget for the fiscal year in order to purchase 1000 new vehicles for the city’s new public bus system, region minister for finance and planning U Myint Thaung told The Myanmar Times. The city-wide Yangon Bus Service, which started ...

The National League for Democracy-led government’s first crack at formulating an annual Union budget has proposed only a modest increase in defence spending, with the lion’s share earmarked for the Ministry of Planning and Finance. Submitted to parliament yesterday, the K20.896 trillion budget for the ...

The issue of illegal tenants and land compensation remains a major challenge for the Yangon Region government, and, in the absence of solutions, the matter has taken a new turn with factory owners now accusing farmers of trespassing and extortion. U Aye Thaung, chair of the ...

Myanmar’s economy is expected to grow by an average of 7.1 percent per year in the next three years, amid easing inflation and a rise in investments in infrastructure and sectors such as light manufacturing and hospitality, the World Bank said in a report on ...

A public consultation on the regulations that will accompany Myanmar’s new investment law threw the spotlight onto the country’s complicated land legislation once again. But although they acknowledge the barriers that land rules present to potential investors, officials in charge of the investment law regulations ...

Now that the new Yangon Bus Service is underway, the regional government is turning its attention to the city’s taxis, and is hoping to have a system of licensed cabs to run side-by-side with Uber drivers, according to chief minister U Phyo Min Thein. The Yangon ...

In a remote casino in northeastern Burma, China’s pervasive campaign against graft has taken its toll. Hundreds of local traders and farmers place petty bets as low as 10 cents, outnumbering a few Chinese who were once the VIPs of a gambling hall decorated with ...

As a newcomer to the city earlier this year, I noticed that urban development and planning in Yangon was a topic that often came up in many discussions, be it with colleagues or during other informal encounters. The general sentiments among locals and foreigners were ...