December 1, 2020 – Min Myanmar

Yangon’s Thilawa Port to receive larger ships

The Myanmar Port Authority will permit larger ships with drafts of up 10 meters to call at the Thilawa Port in Yangon this month, according to its latest announcement. This is expected to enable more containerized cargo throughput at the port and encourage higher volumes of trade. About 95 percent of Myanmar’s trade is conducted by sea. In the last fiscal year, cargos worth over US$10.4 billion was exported and US$15.6 billion was imported via the maritime route.

Yangon’s two main ports, Thilawa and the Port of Yangon, are located along the Yangon river where container vessel sizes are restricted due to sandbars located along the navigation channel. Yangon port is located in downtown Yangon while Thilawa Port is located 16km further downstream. Thilawa Port, which has a draft of 10 meters, is able to handle vessels of up to 20,000 tonnes, or 2000 TEUs in capacity. Up until early this year, only vessels with drafts of up to nine meters were permitted to call at the port. Yangon Port has a draft of nine meters and can handle vessels of up to 15,000 tonnes, or 1500 TEUs.

The number of vessels to Yangon is expected to rise now that larger vessels will be permitted to call at Thilawa. According to an analysis by ocean consultancy Royal Haskoning, based on draft levels and hours of high tide, Thilawa Port can accommodate up to 4,380 annual vessel calls. With an annual vessel call of 2,483 in fiscal 2015-16, this implies that Port of Yangon volumes could be limited by channel capacit when the vessel calls increase. With an estimated maximum 4,380 calls and an average of 1,200 TEU exchange per call, the navigation channel can potentially accommodate up to 5.3 million TEU annually, according to Royal Haskoning.

Source: Myanmar Times

China-ASEAN Expo opens, featuring digital economy

The 17th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit Kicked off on November 27,2020 highlighting booming digital economy cooperation and the implementation of a recently signed major trade pact. Themed “Building the Belt and Road, strengthening digital economy cooperation,” this year’s expo aims to deepen cooperation in trade, the digital economy, science and technology, health, and other fields. Chinese President Ci Jinping called for cultivating a closer community with a shared future for China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when addressing via video the opening ceremony.

With an exhibition area of 104,000 square meters, the expo has 5,400 booths in Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomus Region. More than 1,500 enterprises from home and aboard will participate virtually in the four-day event, according the organizers. The expo will also host 11 high-level forums and more than 160 economic and trade promotion activities. This year is designated as the China- ASEAN Year of Digial Economy Cooperation. Strengthening digital economy cooperation was the common call of ASEAN leaders at the opening ceremony. China is one of the countries that are at the forefront in developing infrastructure and is an important partner of ASEAN in promoting the digital economy in the region.

This year’s expo also highlights the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s biggest trade pact, which was signed earlier this month by 15 Asia-Pacific countries including ASEAN’s 10 member states and China. It was a massive move for regional economic integration, multilateralism and free trade. The expo features a “Belt and Road” exhibition area, and enterprises from RCEP countries including Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand have participated in the event, according to Wang Lei, secretory- general of the expo’s secretariat.

High-level dialogue conducted during the expo will promote greater participation from RCEP members in the construction of the Belt and Road, said Wang, adding that the expo will help integrate the market advantages and resources of the 10 ASEAN members with the capital and technical advantages of other RCEP members. The RCEP will also provide a solid foundation for an open, inclusive, and rules-based global trade environment. Xu Ningning, executive president of the China – ASEAN Business Council, said that opening up the markets of the 15 countries to each other will bring about new changes and closer regional cooperation.

Source: Myanmar Times

External trade falls by $1.5 bln as of 20 November

Myanmar’s external trade between 1 October and 20 November in the current financial year 2020-2021 touched a low of US$3.7 billion, a sharp drop of $1.5 billion compared with the corresponding period of the 2019-2020FY, according to the Ministry of Commerce. During the same period in the previous FY, trade stood at $5.23 billion, stated the ministry’s data.
As of 20 November 2020, Myanmar’s export was worth $1.6 billion, which plunged from $2.69 billion registered a year-ago period. Meanwhile, the country’s import was valued $2.07 billion, showing a decrease of $470 million compared with the last FY.

The decrease in Myanmar’s foreign trade was attributed to the drop in exports and imports in the current FY amid the COVID-19 crisis. Myanmar exports agricultural products, animal products, minerals, forest products, and finished industrial goods. At the same time, it imports capital goods, raw industrial materials, and consumer goods. The country’s export sector relies more on the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The government is trying to reduce the trade deficit by screening luxury import items and boosting exports.

Myanmar’s foreign trade has shown a 10-per-cent increase, year over year, under the incumbent government. Myanmar has already surpassed the total trade value target of $34 billion for the last FY, said an official from the ministry. Last FY2019-2020, Myanmar’s external trade reflected an increase of $1.5 billion compared with the FY2018-2019 as it increased from over $35 billion to $36.6 billion. Under the National Planning Law for the 2020-2021 budget year, Myanmar intends to reach an export target at US$16 billion and import at $18 billion.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Myanmar-Korea Friendship Bridge (Dala) Project 20 per cent completed

The Myanmar-Korea Friendship Bridge (Dala), which crosses the Yangon River and will link Lanmadaw Township to Dala Township in Yangon Region, is under construction, and about 20 per cent of all the construction works have been completed, according to the bridge construction project committee’s office. Construction works are underway to build a high-quality bridge in line with Korea’s quality control in construction. Moreover, they are making efforts to ensure the safety of the workers involved in the construction project. They look forward to the completion of the bridge by October 2022.

The first section of the Myanmar-Korea Friendship Bridge (Dala) Project in Dala Township has been carried out by Myat Noe Thu Construction Company. The second section of the project in Lanmadaw Township has been carried out by Shwe Taung Construction Company. Chinese technological company CCEC is carrying out the third section of the project, which involves the construction of the two towers in the middle of the river and a cable suspension bridge, according to the Department of Bridge.

The total length of the Myanmar-Korea Friendship Bridge (Dala) is 6,144 feet. The bridge will have a four-lane road, with each measuring 4m in width. The total expenditure for the bridge is US$157.833 million. The project has been funded by South Korea’s EDCS loan at an interest rate of 0.01 per cent. The main contractor of the project is South Korea’s GS Engineering Group, according to the Department of Bridge.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

YRIC endorses $3.5 mln worth 3 proposals, creating over 1,200 jobs

The Yangon Region Investment Committee has endorsed three foreign enterprises from China and Singapore in the manufacturing sector, with an estimated capital of US$3.5 million, in the first two months (Oct-Nov) of the current financial year. Those enterprises will create over 1,200 jobs. They will execute manufacturing of bags, footwear and garments on a Cutting, Making, and Packing (CMP) basis, YRIC stated. Between 1 October and 30 September of the previous financial year 2019-2020, Yangon Region stood at the first place with 137 foreign enterprises (with a capital of $308.768 million), followed by Bago Region with 18 foreign projects ($72.645 million) at the second place and Ayeyawady, with nine at the third place ($19.614 million).

Additionally, foreign direct investments also flow into Taninthayi Region from two projects worth $1.397 million, Magway Region from two worth $0.991 million, Mon State from two worth $1.664 million, Mandalay Region from one business valued $4.6 million, Sagaing Region from one worth $3 million, Kachin State from one worth $1 million, Shan State from one worth $4.13 million and Nay Pyi Taw Council from one valued $5.862 million. In the last FY, the respective investment committees of Kayah, Kayin, Rakhine and Chin states did not endorse any foreign enterprises at all, the DICA stated. The region and state investment committees endorsed a total of 175 foreign enterprises with an estimated capital of $423.671 million in the last FY.

The endorsed enterprises are to be engaged in the manufacturing, hotels and tourism, power, agricultural and other services sector. Of them, the majority of the investment goes into the manufacturing sector, followed by other services sector and hotels and tourism sector. The manufacturing sector has attracted the most foreign investments in Yangon Region, with enterprises engaging in the production of pharmaceuticals, vehicles, container boxes, and garments on a Cutting, Making, and Packing (CMP) basis. To date, foreign investments from China, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, India, China (Taipei), Malaysia, the British Virgin Islands and Seychelles are arriving in the region. To aim at making the verification of investment projects simple, Myanmar Investment Law allows the region and state Investment Committees to grant permissions for local and foreign proposals, where the initial investment does not exceed K6 billion, or $5 million.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar