Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Rush before power transfer pushes Myanmar FDI to record $9 billion

Published 04/04/2016, 06:48 AM
Updated 04/04/2016, 06:50 AM
© Reuters. Myanmar's NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi smiles with army members during the handover ceremony of outgoing President Thein Sein and new President Htin Kyaw at the presidential palace in Naypyitaw

© Reuters. Myanmar's NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi smiles with army members during the handover ceremony of outgoing President Thein Sein and new President Htin Kyaw at the presidential palace in Naypyitaw

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Myanmar in the fiscal year ending in March grew to nearly $9 billion, a government official said on Monday, after a rush of last-minute approvals before the handover of power to Aung San Suu Kyi's administration.

The figure, a record high, rose by about $1 billion compared with the previous fiscal year, fueled by investment in the energy, manufacturing and telecoms sectors, San Myint, an official at the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, told Reuters.

The investment reflects growing, if still cautious, interest in one of Asia's last remaining untapped markets, which has offered tax breaks and export tariff perks to create urgently jobs for its 51.5 million people.

San Myint said FDI rose sharply after a body approving projects signed off on several large deals before Suu Kyi's government took power in April, following an election win last year by her National League for Democracy.

"(Projects) pending a long time in the process due to lack of necessary information were expedited before the end of the fiscal year," said San Myint.

Myanmar received $4.1 billion in FDI in 2013/2014 and that number doubled by the end of last fiscal year as foreign firms won oil and gas concessions and international hotel chains started moving in.

Singapore tops the list of foreign investors, the official said, followed by China, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. He said a detailed breakdown was not available as it was still being calculated.

The Asian Development Bank forecast last week Myanmar's economic growth would recover to 8.4 percent in the fiscal year ending March 2017, partly thanks to a pick up in foreign investment.

"Foreign direct investment is expected to get a lift from the successful political transition following national elections in November 2015, with investment flowing into newly established special economic zones and rapidly expanding transport, telecommunications, and energy sectors,” the bank said.

Growth in Myanmar's investment follows reforms launched in 2012 by former president Thein Sein, a former general who enlisted help from technocrats and global financial institutions to overhaul an economy that wilted under sanctions and inept policymaking during five decades of military rule.

The lifting of most Western embargoes has allowed foreign access to sectors from banking, property and tourism to factories, infrastructure, airports and agribusiness.

© Reuters. Myanmar's NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi smiles with army members during the handover ceremony of outgoing President Thein Sein and new President Htin Kyaw at the presidential palace in Naypyitaw

The $9 billion in FDI is some 27 times the $329.6 million received in 2009/2010, the year before the military ceded power.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.