Foreign Investors Wait to See New Government in Action
U Aung/Xinhua
Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends a meeting with elected NLD candidates in Yangon. Foreign investors are waiting to see what kind of economic policy the NLD is going to undertake.
While the newly elected National League for Democracy (NLD) party may be pleased with their overwhelming win in the November 8 election, it is going to face many challenges on various economic sectors when they assume power in March.
International and local investments in various economic sectors have been increasing since 2010. However, international investments seemed to be holding their breath due to uncertainty in the political sphere.
“Foreign investors have been keeping an eye on Myanmar’s reaction to the general election results to do investments. Our investment laws and regulations should be transparent in order to attract the foreign investments,” said economist U Than Soe.
The new government should draw the country budget plan carefully and accurately and the tax regulations should be revised in order to promote trading, U Than Soe added.
Low investment on agriculture sector is another issue that the new government need to tackle, he suggested.
Under the reign of the quasi-civilian government which took power in 2010, Myanmar has seen almost $17 billion of foreign investment to the country starting from the 2011-2012 fiscal year, according to Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) figures.
However, a new investment law is currently under discussion in Parliament. There were two separate laws on investment – Foreign Investment Law and Myanmar Citizens Investment law. The new investment law aims to combine the two laws. Politicians started writing the new law in February 2014, according to U Aung Naing Oo, secretary of MIC.
“This law is not likely to be completed during the current parliament session. The law has been submitted to Union Attorney General Office and the confirmation of the law might be done under the new parliament. This law is very important for the country,” U Aung Naing Oo said at a press conference.
“We have already stated our economic policy before the election. We will implement these policies when we form the government. Primarily we will focus to use country budget effectively,” said U Min Khant, member of NLD economic committee.
The new government will face issues such as the rising cost of property, wage disputes between employees and employers and the rise of basic commodities prices.
“If the new government listens to the voice of people and draft effective laws, the economy will become better and more opportunities will become available,” said entrepreneur Dr Soe Tun.
However, Dr Soe Tun predicts more foreign investments will come to Myanmar when NLD forms the new government “because the international community trusts NLD”.
