Myanmar Morning News For January 9

Rice exporter allegedly defrauds merchants out of K5.3 billion
A rice exporter is believed to be on the run after he allegedly swindled 64 rice merchants out of K5.3 billion (US$3.9 million).
— Coconuts Yangon

Myanmar-S. Korea trade reaches over 450 mln USD in 7 months
Trade between Myanmar and South Korea reached 458 million U.S. dollars in the first seven months of the present fiscal year 2017-18, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.
— Xinhua Net

Financing Myanmar’s economic miracle
Promoting savings and using them to provide long-term and lower-interest loans to infrastructure projects and export-related industries could help Myanmar emulate the “miracle” growth of other Asian economies.
— Frontier Myanmar

Myanmar slipping on several fronts
Myanmar suffered a kind of paralysis in 2017. Bureaucracies ground to a crawl; the economy teetered; forward momentum on democratization ceased.
— Asia Times

Chief ministers seek to end Myanmar’s casino ban
Five of Myanmar’s 13 state and regional chief ministers have petitioned the central government to end its ban on casinos in the country, arguing that casinos will attract high-end foreign tourists and help fund their regions’ development.
— Coconuts Yangon

Western FDI to fall in 2018 as Rakhine crisis continues
Foreign direct investments (FDI) to Myanmar from the West are expected to be less than previous years’ as a result of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in northern Rakhine, said U Aung Naing Oo, secretary of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) and general director of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA).
— Myanamar Times

China-Myanmar Security Operation Spotlights Big Drug Challenge
Though recent successes deserve mention, they also pale in comparison to both the magnitude and multidimensionality of the overall problem.
— The Diplomat

Bangladesh court upholds Myanmar Rohingya marriage ban
The 2014 law forbids registrars from officiating at unions with Bangladeshi nationals and between Rohingya couples, after the government said it was being abused to obtain citizenship.
— BBC News

Ethnic groups not moved by Independence Day spirit
It has been 70 years since Myanmar gained its independence from the British in 1948. But many ethnic groups are still unhappy and civil wars continue. Most of the ethnic people still think that the country’s independence from the British Empire does not concern them.
— Myanmar Times

Five electrocuted by power cable in Kayin State
Five people were killed when a metal rod they were carrying touched a power cable in Tharmanya village, Kayin State, on Jan. 6.
— Coconuts Yangon

Yangon to reform property tax system, improve city’s development
The Yangon Regional Government will review and restructure the city’s property tax system as part of a wider effort to improve and develop the Yangon region, Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said in December.
— Myanmar Times

Myanmar Government Vows to Fight Muslim Terrorist Group
The Myanmar government has pledged to fight back against a Rohingya Muslim militant group that has claimed responsibility for an ambush on Friday that left seven people injured, including six soldiers, in volatile northern Rakhine state.
— Radio Free Asia

Ambassador was not with husband on Myanmar beach: Foreign Affairs
A day after categorically denying Canada’s Ambassador to Indonesia Peter MacArthur was in Rakhine State when he tweeted “perfect” beach shots, Global Affairs Canada now admits he was, but that his wife Karen MacArthur, Canada’s Ambassador to Myanmar, was not.
— CTV News

Myanmar Rohingya militants Arsa vow to fight on after attack
Attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) last year sparked military reprisals that drove about 650,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
— BBC News

Myanmar’s Unhappy Rebels
Dissatisfaction with the government’s approach to peace talks could lead to renewed conflict in Myanmar’s north.
— The Diplomat

Myanmar journalists ask government for details of Reuters reporters’ case
A group of Myanmar reporters asked the government on Monday for details about the arrest of two Reuters journalists last month, arguing that the case could have implications for the ability of journalists to do their jobs, two members of the group said.
— Reuters

Trading of YSX-listed companies gains momentum
The Myanmar Stock Price Index closed last Friday at 462.41, down by more than 2 percent since trading resumed in the New Year. Nevertheless, trading volumes doubled during the week, with almost 22,000 shares exchanging hands on Friday compared to just over 11,000 at the start of the week. A total of 43,524 shares were traded over the three-day week.
— Myanmar Times

China donates prefabricated houses to displaced people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state
China on Saturday handed over about 100 prefabricated houses for displaced persons in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state at the Myanmar Industrial Port, Xinhua reported.
— Mizzima

Feature photo Jean-Marie Hullot

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Myanmar morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Myanmar news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Myanmar Morning News For January 9 added by Leakhena Khat on January 9, 2018
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Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.