Myanmar Morning News For March 27

Myanmar improving but still ‘super challenging’ for business: Study
Family-run firms, a lack of transparency and murky money networks in the former junta-led country continue to make doing business in Myanmar “super challenging”, a new study mapping the country’s top companies said on Monday (March 26).
— The Straits Times (paywall)

Is Facebook contributing to genocide in Myanmar?
It’s not every day that a country of over 51 million people goes online virtually overnight.
— Asia Times

Myanmar to select new president Wednesday
The Myanmar parliament will select a new president on Wednesday, with lawmakers choosing among three vice presidents for the successor to Htin Kyaw, the country’s civilian president who resigned last week.
— Bangkok Post

UN chief hits out at Myanmar army chief over Rohingya comments
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday (Mar 26) criticised Myanmar’s army chief after he declared that the Muslim Rohingya had nothing in common with the country’s other ethnic groups.
— Channel NewsAsia

Report Highlights Plight of Women Survivors of Conflict, Oppression
“I didn’t go to farm for fear of landmines, but even then I was hit at home,” said Ei Seng, a 27-year-old Palaung woman from Shan State’s Namhsan Township.
— The Irrawaddy

Australia condemns Myanmar violence and says offenders ‘must be held to account’
Australia has told Myanmar that international observers must be allowed into the isolated Rakhine state to monitor the situation of Rohingya still living there, and to supervise the return of any of those who have fled and wish to come back.
— The Guardian

One man’s mission to save Rakhine culture and history
For years in Myanmar, if Kyaw Hla Maung, a historian, were to roll up his sleeves and bare his arms he might have been arrested. His arms are tattooed with an unusual a script with vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines and clusters of dots, the ancient Brahmi language of the Rakhine or Arakanese people from Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
— Al Jazeera

Lawmakers call for pressure on Myanmar over Pyongyang ties
The Trump administration has slapped sanctions on companies across the globe to punish illicit trade with nuclear-armed North Korea, yet Myanmar, which is suspected of acquiring ballistic missile systems from the pariah state, has escaped the full force of the “maximum pressure” campaign.
— Times Colonist

Who is U Win Myint, Myanmar’s Likely New President?
After a 30-year journey that has taken him from a legal career to being a political activist, then elected lawmaker and most recently House speaker — U Win Myint has reached a big turning point in his life that now sees him poised to be named the country’s next president.
— The Irrawaddy

MIC forecasts foreign investments worth $3 billion in next six months
The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) is expecting $3 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) for the six-month interim period between April 1 and September 30, said MIC secretary U Aung Naing Oo last week.
— The Myanmar Times

Philippines criticized over UN resolution on Myanmar
Critics of President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday condemned the Philippines’ vote to reject a UN resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar.
— Arab News

Govt risks derailing economy despite legislative reforms
Candid comments from businesses expose this govt’s leadership and policy void in managing the economy, with no vision and little action. As the administration concludes its second year, it has yet to deliver.
— The Myanmar Times

China Freezes Bank Accounts of Myanmar Traders in Shan State Border Region
Chinese authorities have frozen seven bank accounts owned by Myanmar traders who do business along the border in northern Shan state, claiming that the funds they contain are linked to illegal gambling activities, a Myanmar government official said Monday.
— Radio Free Asia

Music festival for wildlife to be held in Yangon
The first-ever music festival “Voices for Wildlife” will be held in Myanmar’s Yangon in April, the Global New Light of Myanmar has reported according to Xinhua.
— Mizzima

DICA to start electronic company registration in Aug
An electronic registration system is being set up by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration. The digital system, called Myanmar Companies Online, will be part of the reforms entailed by the new Companies Law, which was enacted last year but will be implemented on August 1.
— The Myanmar Times

Members of parliament discuss Wildlife protection bill, approves ADB loan, 4.5-billion Thai baht loan
the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw confirmed clause by clause the bill on the protection of wildlife and the conservation of natural areas, in which two Hluttaws were in disagreement and the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker announced that follow-up action will be taken, according to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw law and rules.
— The Global Newlight of Myanmar

MyTel enters Myanmar’s telecoms mart
Mytel Company, Myanmar’s fourth operator announced on Thursday that they started selling SIM cards in Nay Pyi Taw, eastern Bago and Kayin State on March 15.
— The Myanmar Times

Feature photo Christopher Michel

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 March 27 added by Leakhena Khat on March 27, 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.