Myanmar morning news for February 12, 2019

Vice president calls for more competitive rice production
Vice President Henry Van Thio underscored the need for Myanmar farmers to improve the quality and price of rice to make it more globally competitive.
— Myanmar Times

Frenchman arrested for flying drone over Myanmar parliament: Embassy
A French tourist has been arrested for flying a drone near Myanmar’s parliament in the capital Naypyidaw, the French embassy confirmed Monday (Feb 11).
— Channel NewsAsia

Govt asks companies to tighten anti-graft measures
Companies in Myanmar are now required to establish mechanisms for employees to report suspected corrupt practices, according to the latest government announcement.
— Myanmar Times

CBM mulls new system of bank payments in Myanmar-China trade
The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has said it will allow traders to make payments through banks for conducting trading activities with China.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

Rising public interest in local films
Public interest in local Myanmar movies is on the rise and movie show times had to be extended as cinemas are crowded.
— Eleven Myanmar

Why permitting settlements in yen, yuan may not boost trade and investments
Despite the benefits of gradually reducing Myanmar’s US dollar dependency in trade, experts and traders foresee a slew of shortcomings and challenges in permitting the use of the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan in international settlements.
— Myanmar Times

Hundreds of workers stage protest in Yangon
Hundreds of workers staged a protest in support of making amendments to labour laws to live up to ILO standards, forming independent organisations and protecting labours in front of Maha Bandoola Park in Yangon on February 10.
— Eleven Myanmar

Investment in Myanmar Education Sector
On 20th April, 2018, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) issued Notification 7/2018 (the ‘Notification’) to broaden the scope of investment activities permitted in education services.
— Jdsupra

Germany, Myanmar’s top trade partner in EU in Q1
The value of bilateral trade between Myanmar and Germany in the first quarter (Oct-Dec) of the 2018-2019 fiscal year reached a peak of US$172.87 million, with exports worth $130.8 million and imports valued at $42 million, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

Unlawful teak timbers seized in Myanmar’s Yangon area
Myanmar authorities have seized six tons of illegally harvested teak timbers in Taikkyi, Yangon region, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.
— Infosurhoy

Yoma Strategic buying Myanmar restaurant chain Yankin Kyay Oh for 19.4b kyat
MAINBOARD-LISTED company Yoma Strategic Holdings will be acquiring a 65 per cent stake in one of Myanmar’s largest restaurant chains, Yankin Kyay Oh Group of Companies Limited (YKKO), for around 19.4 billion kyat (S$17.1 million), the company said in a media statement.
— Business Times

Search underway for missing in vessel capsizal in western Myanmar
Search and rescue works have been underway for the missing in a vessel capsizal near a lighthouse in Manaung, Myanmar’s Rakhine state, Rakhine State Fire Department said on Monday.
— Xinhua

Mdy rice traders depend on Ygn for new markets: Mdy Chief
Rice traders from Mandalay should not solely depend on China and to find new markets in Yangon, said Mandalay Region Chief Minister Dr Zaw Myint Maung in a meeting of Myanmar Rice Federation held at Mandalay on February 9.
— Eleven Myanmar

Galway councillors vote to revoke Freedom of the City from Myanmar’s Suu Kyi
GALWAY CITY COUNCIL has voted to revoke the freedom of Galway from Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
— The Journal

30 pictures that will make you want to visit Myanmar
Whether your preference is to call it Burma or Myanmar, the fact is that today’s Myanmar is an infinitely preferable place to the Burma depicted by George Orwell in “Burmese Days” and others who have written about the country.
— FMT

Swiss investor backs Myanmar microfinance fund
A Geneva-based company has made a US$2 million investment for a major microfinance fund in Myanmar.
— Myanmar Times

Six Jade Scavengers Killed in Myanmar Cliff Collapse in Kachin State
Six jade scavengers died when a 150-foot cliff wall collapsed midday Sunday at a jade mine in Hpakant township of northern Myanmar’s Kachin state, a mining area where hundreds of lives have been lost in recent years, a municipal official said.
— Radio Free Asia

AsiaBaseMetals Inc. Announces Entry into Myanmar; Application for Lithium Exploration Permits and Grant of Stock Options
AsiaBaseMetals Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX-V: “ABZ”) is pleased to announce that is pursuing mining opportunities in Myanmar, a country with exceptional geological merit and a country now moving onto the world stage, especially in the mining sector.
— Global Newswire

Myanmar’s Buddhist refugees face hardship at border
Buddhist refugees recently displaced by fighting between Myanmar’s military and insurgents face hard times in a remote Bangladeshi village and at the border between the countries.
— UCA News

Bangladesh makes record drugs seizure amid crackdown
Bangladesh seized a record 53 million methamphetamine pills in 2018 — up 33 percent in a year — amid a deadly nationwide crackdown on the trade, officials said Sunday.
— Mizzima

Myanmar forces violating human rights in Rakhine unrest: Amnesty
Amnesty says military shelling villages, limiting access to food and keeping humanitarian groups out.
— Aljazeera

More negotiations on composition of charter change committee needed
No decision was reached at a meeting on Friday on the number of MPs from each political party that will form the Constitutional Amendment Joint Committee that has been approved by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (bicameral legislature).
— Myanmar Times

UN reiterates concerns over Rakhine and Chin State violence
The U.N. refugee agency says it is worried by reports of people fleeing escalating violence in Myanmar’s southern Chin State and Rakhine State, adding to growing instability in these regions, VOA reported.
— Mizzima

Three years’ jail for Singapore woman who abused Myanmar domestic helper for doing chores too slowly
A woman in Singapore who abused her Myanmar domestic helper by forcing her to pour hot water on herself, pulling her hair out and hitting her was jailed for three years on Monday.
— South China Morning post

Congratulations to the winners of the Yangon Journalism School Feature Writing Awards 2019
1. The Best Feature Award – “At the Thabaung paper will boondoggle, land grabs, a dead river and a budget black hole” by Hein Ko Soe , Frontier M
— Myanmar Times

Elephant protection camps open in green business drive
The government is opening elephant protection camps to increase the earnings of the State through green business or sustainable business that is not harmful to the natural environment, state media reported quoting Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Ohn Win yesterday at the opening of the country’s 19th elephant protection camp, the Shwesettaw Mann Chaung Elephant Protection Camp, Minbu Township, Magway Division.
— Mizzima

Union Law that Will Lead to Harmony within the Union
Just around the corner is the auspicious Union Day to be celebrated across the country, and that Nay Pyi Taw weather is cool and serene pleasant as befits the cold season.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

Hyundai Motor assembly plant opens in Myanmar
South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co. that has been putting out efforts to expand its presence in Southeast Asia opened its first knockdown plant in Myanmar where its all-new Accent will be assembled.
— Pulse news

Vice President calls on traders, farmers to have confidence in contract farming system
Vice President U Henry Van Thio, the head of the Leading Committee for the Protection of Farmers Rights and Promotion of Interest, has called upon rice traders and farmers to control the quality and food safety standards for rice to ensure the ability for farmers to compete in markets, pledging that the Union Government would work to increase international rice quotas through government-to-government negotiations.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

Crack in Taungnawin Dam no risk to safety – Authorities
The crack at a dam in Myanmar’s Bago region poses no risk to public safety following several earthquakes that jolted Paukkaung, Bago region last year, Xinhua reported quoting an initial assessment of the Myanmar Dams National Committee.
— Mizzima

Sc refuses to monitor CBI investigation into Saradha chit fund scam
The Supreme Court Monday refused to monitor the ongoing CBI investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam in West Bengal.
— Devdiscourse

Opening ceremony of a new precise measurement science (Myanmar) building
An opening ceremony of a new precise measurement science (Myanmar) building was held in the compound of Department of Research and Innovation at No. 6 Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Yankin Township, Yangon yesterday morning.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

New protests against Myanmar dam
Approximately 10,000 people in northern Myanmar have protested against the Chinese-backed Myitsone dam.
— KHL

Nay Pyi Taw Council Chairman meets locals from Ottarathiri Township
Nay Pyi Taw Council Chairman Dr. Myo Aung met with Hluttaw representatives, departmental officials, ward/village administrators, local elders of Ottarathiri Township at the township general administrative department meeting hall yesterday morning to learn about the regional development works in the township and the requirement of the people.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

Feature photo USAID Asia

This week’s morning news photo features International Day of Women and Girls in Science, February 11.

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.