June 8, 2017
The Myanmar-EU
Economic Forum held its opening ceremony at the Kempinski Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw
yesterday. Vice President U Myint Swe delivered the opening speech.
Present at the
meeting were Deputy Speaker of Amyotha Hluttaw U Aye Thar Aung, Union Ministers
Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, Dr. Aung Thu, U Ohn Win, U Khin Maung Cho, Dr. Than Myint, U
Win Khaing, Chief Minister of Bago Region, Deputy Ministers, the Deputy
Attorney General, Hluttaw Representatives, Heads of Departments, the EU
Ambassador to Myanmar and his delegation, representatives of EU Chambers of
Commerce, business experts and invited guests.
Vice President U
Myint Swe said the purpose of the ceremony was to boost trade relations and
investment with the European Union, therefore he expected new ideas to come up
for discussion at the forum.
He said Myanmar
urgently needed foreign investment and technical assistance in developing a
business model to enter the global market. He said investors willing to make
responsible investments were important in the development of a nation’s economy
and the government was mak ing firm decisions in attracting investment. He also
said peace and stability were important for improving the trade and investment
sector, especially in a country like Myanmar. He said this is why it was
crucial to engage in peace talks with both armed and unarmed ethnic groups and
establish a federal democratic union. Participants of the 2nd Union Peace
Conference- 21st Century Panglong managed to agree on 37 points which would
help in the country’s path to peace and development.
The Vice
President said investment was needed to acquire capital and create job
opportunities, which was why the government was working hard for microbusinesses
to thrive.
The Myanmar
Investment Law was enacted in October 2016 to create a working environment for
investors. The law grants some levels of protection to investors and includes
mechanisms for reporting inconveniences. He said Myanmar was a country with
many investment opportunities and was in a geographically advantageous location
for trade, between developing ASEAN countries and two powerful nations.
He also said
investment in Myanmar consisted mainly of oil and natural gas, electric power,
news and communications, commodity production and real estate. The
aforementioned sectors have further investment potential but there were still
many areas for potential investment.
The Vice
President said investment from the European Union was greatly welcomed and that
they were hoping for technical and professional assistance to also arrive in
Myanmar.
Afterwards, EU
Ambassador to Myanmar Mr. Roland Kobia, Mr. Arnaldo Abruzzini, CEO of the
Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES) and
Mr. David Levrat, Chairman of EuroCham Myanmar each delivered welcoming remarks
and closed the opening ceremony. The Vice President and all the other
participants then took a documentary photo together.
After the
opening ceremony, the main part of the forum began. Discussions were made on EU
nations’ investment in Myanmar’s economy, implementing corporate social
responsibility, the electricity and energy sector, the logistics sector,
construction sector and health sector.
Ref; The Global
New Light of Myanmar
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