An MP of the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has questioned the government’s approval to implement four LNG (liquefied natural gas) power plant projects worth over US$5 billion without inviting a tender. MP Maung Myint asked the question about any transparency in the project procedures during a regular session of the Lower House […]
Experts warn Myanmar’s opposition victory could affect Japanese businesses
November 11, 2015 by
In the wake of Myanmar’s ruling party conceding defeat to Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition forces in the nation’s first free general election in 25 years, Japanese experts say it could have mixed repercussions for Japanese companies investing there. “We lost,” Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) leader Htay Oo, a close ally of President […]
Elections mean brisk business for Yangon printing shops
November 5, 2015 by
Business has been especially good for a cluster of shops in the Shwe Gone Daing area in Yangon city who provide screen printing services for posters and company T-shirts. For the past few weeks, they have been printing political party merchandise in preparation for the coming Myanmar elections on Nov 8. The two most obvious […]
A nation in a chrysalis
November 4, 2015 by
Paranoia surrounding security isn’t palpable in Yangon. Passing the immigration counter at Yangon international airport, and with it the completely unfounded fear of being deported on arrival, I reach the Telenor counter for a SIM card. I am ready with my photo and ID-proof documents, but all that the teenaged boy at the counter takes […]
A special zone on Myanmar’s border
September 28, 2015 by
DAWEI (Myanmar) • It has been eight long years since engineer Suphap Satthathum first set foot in the tropical scrub jungle by the immense curve of beach near the port town of Dawei, in Myanmar’s southernmost Tanintharyi state that borders Thailand. But today, as he strides on the jetty his construction company has built, he […]
In Election Campaigning, Candidates Chase Votes via ‘Likes’
September 21, 2015 by
RANGOON — With 55 days to Burma’s Nov. 8 general election, candidates for the poll are beginning to pound the pavement—and increasingly, the keyboard—in search of voters’ favor. Unsurprisingly, given the enormous popularity of the social networking platform, several candidates have taken to Facebook to garner support for their parliamentary bids in recent days, and […]
