Malaysian firms to increase investment in Myanmar
Malaysian firms are planning to increase investment in Myanmar, especially in hotels and tourism sector, state-run media said. Malaysian investment in Myanmar is mainly in oil and gas, and livestock breeding. Malaysia’s investment in Myanmar stands at $1.65 billion as of March this year, ranking seventh in Myanmar’s investor line-up.
Yazarmin bus line banned after fatal bus crash
Myanmar authorities have banned Yazarmin bus line from resuming its Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw-Yangon service after 14 people were killed on Nay Pyi Taw-Yangon highway. With 43 passengers on board, Yazarmin, which set out from Nay Pyi Taw for Yangon, overturned on the highway and fell underneath a bridge when the bus tried to overtake a motor car at high speed under heavy rain. The Nay Pyi Taw-Yangon highway, which opened in 2009, has claimed 360 lives in road accidents until now, according to official statistics. Of those, 57 died in the first four months of this year in 147 accidents.
Kaladan Project to finish in 2016, 3 yrs behind schedule
The Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, which would connect the Sittwe seaport in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state with the landlocked Indian state of Mizoram, will be operational at the end of 2016, India’s external affairs secretary told local media. The project, being developed by India since 2010 with an investment of $214 million, was originally scheduled to finish in 2013.
Condor and Business Air stops flying to Myanmar
Frankfurt-based airline Condor Flugdienst and Thai charter airline Business Air have cancelled their direct flights to Myanmar due to low capacity, a Department of Civil Aviation official told local media. German airline Condor started flying to Myanmar last year in November. In 2012, seven new international airlines began flying directly to Myanmar including All Nippon Airways, Qatar Airways, Korean Air and Singapore Airlines.
AEC implementation to go ahead as planned: Minister
Myanmar will implement the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by January 1, 2015, as stipulated by the regional body, Dr Kan Zaw, minister for national planning and economic development, said at the recently-concluded 24th ASEAN Summit in Nay Pyi Taw. “We plan to start the AEC in 2015. We don’t need to complete all the operations to implement the AEC – the remaining programmes will go ahead,” the minister said. The AEC aims to create a common market where free flow of capital and human resources within the region will spur job creation and economic development. However, the less-developed members of the ASEAN like Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are facing challenges in narrowing the economic and developmental gaps with developed economies like Singapore and Indonesia.
Greenply forms Myanmar JV in Singapore
Greenply Industries said it has incorporated its joint venture with Alkemal Singapore Pte Ltd as private limited company in Singapore. In a statutory filing to the stock exchange, it said the new company, Greenply Alkemal, would acquire and own 100 percent share of Greenply Industries (Myanmar) Pvt Ltd, which was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Greenply Industries for setting-up a veneer or veneer-cum-plywood unit in Myanmar.
Bangkok Air ups Myanmar frequency
A temporary surge in demand spurred by the annual ASEAN summit in Myanmar prompted Bangkok Airways to increase its Bangkok-Nay Pyi Taw services to a daily basis. The sole operator of the route raised the frequency from five flights per week to seven flights, an airline executive told Thai media. The extra flights will end on May 30.
