News
Myanmar needs to scale up transport investment: ADB
The Myanmar needs to invest US$45 billion to $60 billion in transport projects over the next 15 years, to improve connectivity with neighbours and ensure equitable distribution of economic growth, Asian Development Bank officials have said. “Every year, Myanmar will need about $4 billion. This ...
Myitsone and the failure of China’s ‘anti-ethno-politics’ approach
Northern Myanmar’s Myitsone mega-project failed because its Chinese proponents systematically dismissed Kachin and Burmese nationalism. The Chinese hydropower developers’ strategy was what I call “anti-ethno-politics”: when the state, NGOs, businesses, or other actors try to depoliticise sensitive questions about how their own activities clash with ...
Govt publishes data on populations of religious groups
According to the figures publicly launched by the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, on 21 July in the capital Naypyidaw, Buddhists constitute 87.9 percent of the country, Christians make up 6.2 percent, Muslims comprise 4.3 percent, animists are counted at 0.8 percent and Hindus are ...
Draft law on work permits for foreigners heads to attorney general
Foreigners working in Myanmar will soon need work permits, the labour ministry has announced, in a move that has been welcomed by businesses. The Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population will submit a draft law to the attorney general later this month, deputy director general ...
China woos Myanmar, tries to massage its public image
According to the State Council Information Office of the Chinese foreign ministry, Beijing has invited more than 100 journalists, government officials and members of parliament to visit the country, as well as 100 students to study in China. In what seems likely to be a concerted and ...
ASEAN sugar producers form alliance
Myanmar has formed an alliance with six other sugar-producing countries in the region, with a view to improving cooperation and boosting trade, in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community, which aims to create a single market for capital, goods, labour and services. Seven countries – ...
ASEAN energy officials set sights on regional power grid
Energy officials will seek to better connect ASEAN members’ electricity grids into a regional energy network over the next five years to better utilise the countries’ respective strengths and weaknesses in power generation, it was announced at a meeting of the bloc in Myanmar’s capital ...
MATA calls for investigation into Shan State coal mine
A civil society alliance has asked the Shan State government to investigate a coal mine in Namsan township, after farmers claimed their land was confiscated by force without explanation. Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability has asked the state government whether the mine has been approved ...
Migrants’ hopes and fears in Little Myanmar
Thai employers are reluctant to attract media coverage focusing on the region’s docks, markets or construction sites; workers told The Irrawaddy that if they were discovered as having contributed to a story on Little Myanmar, they feared they would be later fired. Wandering through Samut ...
Yangon govt orders safety modifications to high-rise buildings under construction
Despite complaints from developers, a review committee for the construction of high-rise buildings has ordered safety modifications to 12 structures, stating that failure to follow Rangoon’s updated urban planning standards could cause harm to the city and its residents. Ye Min Oo, the review committee’s spokesperson, ...
