17 June
THE Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) permitted nine foreign investment projects valued at US$ 684.2 million and over Ks. 96,034 million that can create up to 4,180 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens. The investment proposals in tourism, industry, electricity generation and service sectors were approved by the MIC during its regular meeting held via video conferencing on 22 May, according to the figure issued by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations.
The MIC also gave the nod to five new investment projects worth US$ 64.594 million and Ks. 10,841 million in its monthly meeting held in late April. The investment proposals in service, oil and gas, and real estate sectors are expected to create 344 job prospects for Myanmar citizens. Myanmar citizen investment projects in the current fiscal year saw over Ks. 1,200 billion, an increase of more than Ks. 300 billion when compared to the same period last year, the DICA said. The MIC greenlighted 73 Myanmar citizen investment projects worth Ks. 1,251,224 million during the period from 1 October to 30 April. The MIC approved 89 Myanmar citizen investment projects worth Ks. 893917 million in the previous financial year.
Foreign direct investment inflows into Myanmar totalled over US$ 3.4 billion during the first seven month of this fiscal year, an increase of more than US$ 900 million when compared to the same period last year, U Thant Sin Lwin, Director-General of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) under the ministry told the Staterun media recently. Foreign investments worth US$ 2.5 billion flowed to Myanmar in the seven months of the previous financial year, he added. The Southeast Asian country received an average of US$ 500 million per month in foreign direct investment in the current fiscal year, he once told the media. He continued that the foreign investment volume was higher than domestic investments by Myanmar citizens.
The foreign investment projects approved by the MIC have created nearly 145,000 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens in seven months of the current fiscal year. With steady FDI inflow in the present financial year, Myanmar is likely to meet its FDI target of US$5.8 billion, set under the Myanmar Investment Promotion Plan (MIPP), he said. The increase of foreign direct investment into Myanmar attributes to the government’s steps to ease regulations in an attempt to lure more foreign direct investment into the country. Singapore topped the list of foreign investors in Myanmar during the period from October last year to date, and was followed by China and Thailand. Singapore became the largest foreign investor in Myanmar, injecting over US$ 22 billion into 312 projects of the Asia’s last frontier market.
Myanmar drew up the MIPP in order to attract US$ 221 billion of FDI within 20 years from 2016-2017FY to 2035-2036FY to become a middle-income country by 2036. Foreign investor’s interest in Myanmar’s much-needed infrastructure projects such as construction, tourism, telecommunications, and industry sector is rising. Myanmar is considered to be a key overseas emerging investment market for foreign investors around the world due to its consumption trends, abundant young workforce and relaxed export & import related policies. The power sector topped the FDI lineup in the current fiscal year, with investments of US$ 1.02 billion, followed by the real estate sector with investments of US$ 895 million, and the manufacturing sector with US$ 544 million.
The largest sector of foreign direct investment came to oil and gas sector, accounting for 26.74 per cent of the total FDI, followed by the electricity generation sector with 26.07 per cent and the manufacturing sector with 14.16 per cent. Around 1,800 foreign firms from 51 countries were given permission to pour investments into 12 sectors in Myanmar. Myanmar received US$ 9.4 billion of foreign direct investment in 2015-2016FY, US$ 6.6 billion of FDI in 2016-2017, US$ 6.11 billion of FDI in 2017-2018FY, US$ 4.52 billion in 2018-2019, and is estimated to attract US$ 5.8 billion in the current financial year.
By Kyaw Htike Soe
