By Kyaw Htike Soe
THE foreign direct investment in Myanmar during this fiscal year totaled more than US$ 4.1 billion in the current fiscal year, according to a source from the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC). The MIC greenlighted 252 foreigner-invested projects that are valued at over US$ 2.55 billion and can create 135,000 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens from 1 October 2018 to 5 September 2019.
“The foreign investment permitted by the MIC in the financial year 2018-2019 under the Special Economic Zone Law reached US$ 223.680 million. So the MIC approved foreign investment projects worth US$ 4.1 billion during the period from 1 October 2018 to 5 September this year”, said UThant Sin Lwin, Acting Director-General of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. Similarly, the MIC gave the green light to 152 Myanmar citizen-invested projects valued at more than Ks. 1,116,619 million and US$ 335.834 million, creating more than 17,000 job opportunities for Myanmar people. Hence the investment volume by Myanmar citizens saw Ks. 1,373,619 million and US$ 425.501 million.
The majority of the foreign investment flowed to manufacturing, transport, communications, tourism, agriculture, electricity generation, and industrial sectors.
The government believes that the foreign direct investment is a key drive for economic growth and is committed to an open, fair and clean investment policy.
The DICA has been cooperating with NGOs and INGOs so as to lure foreign direct investments to the country by organizing seminars, investment and business forums under the Myanmar Investment Promotion Plan (MIPP) which aims to attract FDI worth US$ 200 billion over the next 20 years. Arrangements are being made to attract more foreign direct investments in the industrial sector that can create more job opportunities for Myanmar citizens under the MIPP.
The MIC expects that the country will receive more foreign direct investment in the years to come. Under the Myanmar Investment Law, foreign investors can lease land from the government for 50 years.
FDI inflows to the country contribute to the creation of job opportunities for local people, help their income increase and promote their socioeconomic status.
The MIC OK’d the investment projects worth more than US$ 200 million and Ks. 25 billion during its monthly meeting held in Yangon on 31 August. The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the MIC and Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun and nine commission members.The MIC approved six projects in the real estate sector, livestock and fisheries sector and agricultural sector during in the meeting.
The investment projects permitted by the MIC during the meeting including the amount of increased investment were valued at US$ 214.223 million and Ks. 25,733 million, creating 374 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens.
The Yangon Region Investment Committee also gave the green light to 10 foreign investment projects from China, Hong Kong and British Virgin Islands on 28 August.These investment projects are worth US$ 10.655 million and come to the industrial sector, creating 4268 job opportunities for Myanmar people.
A total of 1,779 foreign enterprises from 50 countries around the world were allowed to invest in 12 sectors, with the total amount of US$ 81,249.193 million during the period from 1988 to the end of July 2019.
Singapore and China were the largest foreign investors in Myanmar, with both countries channeling more than US$ 1.3 billion and around US$ 350 million into the projects in the Southeast Asia country.
The largest sector was oil and gas sector, accounting for 27.5 per cent of the total foreign investments, followed by the power sector with 26.07 per cent and the manufacturing sector with 13.94 per cent.
