Vice President: Myanmar in top 100 business index by 2020

 July 20, 2017

Vice President U Myint Swe said he wants Myanmar to make the list of the top 100 countries on the World Bank’s Doing Business Index in the next three years.

U Myint Swe said that the country needs to work harder to elevate itself from its current No. 170 position on the index and up to the top 100 so that more foreign investment will flow into the country.

The Vice President made the statement in his speech at the Myanmar Private Sector Development Committee and Myanmar Entrepreneurs Regular Meeting held at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) yesterday.

A nation’s ranking on the index is based on the average of 10 sub-indices:  (1) Starting a business; (2) Dealing with construction permits; (3) Getting Electricity; (4) Registering property; (5) Getting Credit; (6) Protecting Investors; (7) Paying Taxes; (8) Trading across borders; (9) Enforcing contracts; and (10) Resolving insolvency.

Since Myanmar’s main industry is agriculture, the government is working to elevate agricultural products as high-end commodities and to sell them on the international market. U Kyaw Win, Union Minister for Planning and Finance, said they will provide the necessary loans and technologies to farmers.

Other topics discussed at the meeting include fish farming, the fruit and vegetable industry, sugar cane production, plastic production and economic development in Bago Region and Shan State.

U Htay Myint, Chairman of the Myanmar Fishery Federation, requested that the government help local fish farming businesses to network with international fish farming businesses.

The plastic industry is predicted for rapid development due to its cheap production cost. Products from Myanmar have to pass the Thai Industrial Standard (TIS) before they are imported into Thailand. U Thein Han, Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar Plastic Industries Association, requested the government to work on issuing a Myanmar Industrial Standard (MIS) to help regulate exports as well as imports.

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar