• Burmese
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Burma Business Roundup (Saturday, Aug. 4)

William Boot by William Boot
August 4, 2012
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
1.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

World Bank Urges Faster Economic Reform

A senior World Bank official has urged the Burmese government to quicken the pace of economic change or risk disaffection from a newly enfranchised electorate.

“I think whenever you have an economy in transition, the biggest risk is whether they will go fast enough and deep enough on the reform,” said the bank’s Vice-President for East Asia and the Pacific Pamela Cox.

RelatedPosts

Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

July 8, 2025
245
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

July 8, 2025
182
Myanmar People Skeptical of Junta’s Promises of Election, Peace

Myanmar People Skeptical of Junta’s Promises of Election, Peace

July 7, 2025
606

“If the people don’t see the benefits from the reforms, then I think we will see a difficult situation,” she added during a press conference as the bank returned to Burma this week to open a new office in Rangoon since it halted lending in 1987.

Cox said evidence from the opening up of Eastern Europe after the collapse of communism in 1989 showed that those countries which reformed fastest and deepest “grew and prospered the most.”

The World Bank will not waive outstanding debts owed by Burma since military junta days but it hopes to smooth the way forward for settlement and planned to present an interim strategy by October for helping the country’s economic revival, Cox said.

In the meantime, proposals were being drawn up for approval by the bank’s board of aid up to US $85 million specifically to assist in road building, schools and similar infrastructure improvements.

US Congress Renews Burma Import Ban

The United States has extended a ban on imports from Burma for one more year despite a recent decision to allow US businesses to invest in the country.

American companies can also export goods to Burma.

The seemingly contradictory decisions, imposed on President Barack Obama’s government by the US Congress, are meant to push the Burmese government to implement more human rights reforms, according to Congress leaders.

However some observers think a continued import ban will undermine job prospects as the Burmese economy seeks to open up to modernization. Obama has the power to cancel the import ban if he thinks sufficient progress has been made by the Burmese government.

In the last full year before the import ban came into force, 2002, the US bought Burmese goods worth $356 million.

Exports to Burma from the US last year were less than $50 million—a fraction of the trade with neighbor Thailand in 2011 which was worth $36 billion.

Burma-Thai Ministerial Meeting over Dawei

Government ministers from Burma and Thailand are to meet in the middle of August to consider how to push forward the stalled special economic port zone proposed for the southeast Burma coastal town of Dawei (Tavoy).

Bangkok construction giant Italian-Thai Development (ITD) has the main contract from the former Burmese military government to develop a port-industrial complex around Dawei, but a lack of partners and funds has left the project in limbo for the past year.

ITD’s development plan includes Middle East-sourced crude oil transshipment—for piping on into Thailand—a steel factory and a petrochemical plant on the pristine white sands coast. However, a block imposed by the Naypyidaw government earlier this year on a large coal-fuelled electricity plant to power the enterprise dismayed some potential investors, such as Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company PTT Group.

The Dawei plans have been further underlined by ITD’s Burmese partner, the Max Myanmar Group, announcing it is drastically reducing its involvement to focus on other business elsewhere.

“The Thai government is keen for this port project to get started because it offers scope for a major sea route short-cut for oil and other energy related imports,” said energy industries analyst Sar Watana in Bangkok.

“The Thais want to link Dawei by road with Bangkok and the Thai capital’s main port at Laem Chabang and this would cut the present journey time round Singapore by days. The Burmese will be seeking to gain some benefits like infrastructure improvements to a region which has been very isolated and underdeveloped.”

New Energy Planning Body Mooted

A new national energy planning committee is forecast to be established to coordinate Burma’s long-term energy policy.

The planning body is expected to be unveiled at an oil, gas and electricity conference planned for Rangoon on Sept. 3, said media reports quoting the former director-general of the Ministry of Energy Soe Myint.

The three-day gathering, the second in the energy sector this year, will also see the announcement of new offshore and onshore oil block licenses.

It’s understood that a new long-term strategy planner body will examine ways of connecting energy fuel exploitation with Burma’s pressing need for more electricity generation and consider privatizing the country’s small oil refineries.

However, the controversial Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) is expected to continue to have a role in awarding new oil and gas exploration and production contracts and to have a stake in profits.

The state-owned MOGE has recently been criticized by both the US government and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for its links with the former military junta and a lack of accountability.

More Foreign Airlines to Begin Rangoon Services

Five more foreign airlines are to start flying to Rangoon soon, expanding the total number to 18, and a major European airline is seeking approval for direct links.

The five new lines, starting in October, are All Nippon Airways of Japan, KAL of South Korea, EVA of Taiwan, Dragon Air of Hong Kong and Qatar Air, said a Transport Ministry statement. All Nippon stopped flying to Burma 12 years ago.

In addition, a German airline is negotiating to start direct flights. So far, all the airlines resuming or starting up services to Burma are Asian.

Your Thoughts …
William Boot

William Boot

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.5k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.8k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87.1k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.9k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
UN: Burma Still Has Serious Rights Challenges

UN: Burma Still Has Serious Rights Challenges

Burmese Journalists Demand End to Censorship

Burmese Journalists Demand End to Censorship

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

5 days ago
1.5k
From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

1 week ago
2.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Timor-Leste Hits Back at Myanmar Junta’s Objection to ASEAN Membership

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Defies Myanmar Junta Push to Cede Shan Towns in China Talks  

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar People Skeptical of Junta’s Promises of Election, Peace

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar’s Civilian Govt Rebuffs Junta’s Appeal for ‘Cooperation’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.