The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) issued Notification 25/2018 dated 9th May 2018 allowing 100% foreign owned companies and joint ventures between local and foreign investors to carry out retail and wholesale business.
Traditionally foreign companies including foreign JV are not able to do trading business i.e. they are not able to get an import/export license from the Ministry of Commerce. This new law however changes that.
Minimum Capital Requirement
| Company Form | Retail1 | Wholesale2 |
| 100% Foreign Owned | USD 3 mil | USD 5 mil |
| Joint Venture3 | USD 0.7 mil | USD 2 mil |
1 Retail is defined as sale of good to the public in small quantities. Example of retail will be a retailer like Carrefour or Walmart.
2 Wholesale is defined as sale of goods to retailers for purpose of resale or to manufacturers for use as input in their production. Example of a wholesale business would be Metro Cash & Carry or a Sam’s Club.
3 Joint-Venture is defined as a company between Myanmar citizen and foreigners as shareholders where the Myanmar shareholder has at least 20% share.
The minimum capital requirements exclude land rental fee.
Prohibition
The 100% foreign-owned company or join-venture company shall not engage in retail distribution, including mini-markets and convenience stores in premises ≤ 929 square meters in floor areas.
Furthermore, 100% Myanmar citizen owned companies whose capital is ≥ US$ 700,000 that are operating a retail/wholesale business prior to the enactment of the Directive are required to register with the MOC within 150 days from 9 May 2018.
Please contact us at info (at) consult-myanmar.com if you are interested to setup a retail or wholesale operation in Myanmar.
