MADAM – I follow The Myanmar Times’ excellent and extensive coverage of the solar tender with enormous interest. Reporting by John Liu – via his latest scoop on the tender results – and other journalists at your paper captures the controversy surrounding what could have been the defining solar power initiative in Myanmar. Alas, the […]
Unable to break protectionist curse, FMI bites the dust
FMI Air became the third domestic airline to throw in the towel on July 20, after more than five years in operation. Amid the winding up of joint venture proposals and local firms, this is the latest alarm that businesses are running out of patience with the government’s rigid protectionism in the aviation industry. “Operating […]
Local, foreign firms to upgrade Yangon pharmaceutical factory
YANGON – To boost medicine production, Myanmar’s Ministry of Industry plans to upgrade Pharmaceutical Factory No 1 in Yangon in cooperation with local and overseas companies. At present, entrepreneurs in Myanmar and abroad can bid for contracts to build the facility and install equipment. Interested companies must send an Expression of Interest (EOI) to the […]
MIC to take action against foreign investment registering locally
A crackdown is coming to foreign investment circumventing rules by registering under the names of Myanmar citizens, according to Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) secretary U Aung Naing Oo. The commission first announced in early 2012 there would be a grace period for foreign investment to re-register properly and promised future action against offenders which did […]
Myanmar Firms Feel Pinch From Abroad
YANGON, Myanmar—The world’s biggest consumer companies are flocking to Myanmar, filling the once-pariah nation and its backward economy with goods previously unavailable to its 60 million people. But not everyone is happy. Some of the country’s biggest conglomerates—plugging away at the cash-strapped market for decades and fighting hard to grow despite crippling Western sanctions—are now […]