IndiGo, India’s leading airline adds Yangon as the 18th international destination in its growing network. Effective September 20, 2019, IndiGo to operate daily non-stop flight on the Kolkata-Yangon route. Yangon will be IndiGo’s 77th overall destination.

Mr. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “In line with our international expansion strategy, we are excited to announce Yangon as our new international destination. We see significant traffic coming from Yangon to the Buddhist circuit thereby enhancing economic growth and tourism in India. This new route will strengthen the cultural relationship between the two countries and will boost trade, tourism and mobility.”

Source: Rus Tourism News

Myanmar’s Ministry of Planning and Finance is set to give the go-ahead to joint ventures between local and foreign insurance companies in August. Myanmar’s insurance business regulatory board, which is overseen by the Ministry of Planning and Finance, is currently scrutinizing companies that have submitted requests for proposals (RFP), said U Zaw Naing, the board’s secretary. Nine foreign companies have expressed interest, but only six of them submitted RFPs for joint ventures, according to him.

Partnering with foreign insurance firms that have opened representative offices in Myanmar, local companies such as IKBZ, AYA Myanmar Insurance and Grand Guardian Insurance will provide general insurance services and GGI, Capital Life Insurance and CB Insurance will provide life insurance service. Foreign companies will be able to hold up to a 35-percent stake in joint insurance ventures while the remaining 65 percent must be locally owned.

At present, there are 19 local insurance companies providing general and life insurance services in Myanmar. Myanmar allowed for the first time foreign insurance companies to operate in the country’s life insurance market in April, 2019. The Ministry of Planning and Finance granted licenses to five foreign companies to sell life insurance: Chubb Tempest Reinsurance of the United States; Dai Ichi Life Insurance of Japan; AIA of Hong Kong; Prudential of England; and Manufacturers Life Insurance of Canada.

Surveys by private insurance companies estimate that only 1 percent of the country’s population is currently interested in purchasing life insurance. Most current plans are bought for vehicle and fire insurance. At present, local companies provide over 15 kinds of insurance, including life, travel, fire, health and vehicle.

Source: The Irrawaddy 

Myanmar will allow direct foreign ownership of shares at the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX), a move designed to throw a lifeline to the country’s only bourse. In a notice on Friday, the regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar, said foreign individuals and locally-registered entities would be allowed to invest in listed shares of up to 35pc.

No timeline was given but Ko Aung Thaw Zin, research analyst at business information firm Frontier Myanmar Research (FMR), expects such trading to start by year end. “It’s unclear [from the notice] whether both resident and non-resident foreigners will be permitted to trade. I understand the SECM has already prepared the follow-on regulations, which is likely to allow [only] resident foreigners,” he added.

There are five companies listed on YSX: First Myanmar Investment Public  Co Ltd, Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Co Ltd, Myanmar Citizens Bank Ltd, First Private Bank Ltd, and TMH Telecom Public Co Ltd. The YSX was incorporated with a paid-up capital of US$22.6 million in December 2014 and welcomed its first initial public offering in January 2018. With five listed companies, the bourse is small and limited in liquidity, with daily volume of US$35,000 as of July 12, and a market capitalisation of around $400 million.

Source: Myanmar Times 

Tokyo, July 12 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Daiwa Securities Group Inc. <8601> will shortly set up a fund for startups in Myanmar, informed sources said Friday. The brokerage group was involved in the establishment of the Yangon Stock Exchange in 2015. The number of listed firms on the exchange, however, totals only five.

The group aims to increase the figure by fostering startups through the fund. The total size of the fund is expected to reach some 30 million dollars. Its investors will include Tokyo-based Taiyo Life Insurance Co., which runs life insurance business in Myanmar. The fund will be in operation for some 10 years, pouring one million dollars into each startup.

Source: Nippon.com 

KB Kookmin Bank, one of South Korea’s top four banks, is interested in expanding its presence in Myanmar with more financial products and services, especially in the areas of providing financing for housing and small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs).

The expansion included collaborations with Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry for products and services tailored to SMEs, support for state-owned enterprises, digital remittance services for Myanmar workers in South Korea and collaborations with Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Development (CHID) Bank.

KB Kookmin, which applied for a banking license in 2014 but failed to obtain one, has had a presence in Myanmar through KB Finance since March 2017. The subsidiary provides microfinancing. The bank will need to acquire the license and strengthen cooperation with Myanmar especially in housing and infrastructure financing. Projects the bank has been active in include the Korea – Myanmar Industrial Complex and Dala township development, both in Yangon Region. The bank, which has a representative office in Myanmar since 2013, has conducted housing finance workshops with the Ministry of Construction, Central Bank of Myanmar and CHID Bank over the past five years.

Source: Myanmar Times 

Of the nine port terminals of the Yangon Water Bus service, the Myanma Port Authority is collecting rent from just two_ K700,000 per month from the No4 and Lanthit terminals. The Myanma Port Authority is not charging any rent from the remaining terminals to help develop the water bus service. The nine port terminals of the water bus service are Botahtaung No4, Nanthida, Lanthit, Kyimyindine, Hline, Insein, Sarpachaung, Thamada, and the Antgyi shipyard in Dala Township, according to the Myanma Port Authority. At present, the Yangon Water Bus is running 11 ferries for 100,000 passengers. The number of passengers has decreased in the monsoon season.

Meanwhile, to extend the water bus route to the Pazuntaung creek, the Tint Tint Myanmar Company and the Department of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems have jointly conducted a feasibility study at a suitable location for establishing a jetty, and their report has been forwarded to the Yangon Region government. Plans to extend the water bus route to the South Okkalapa Pagoda have been submitted to the regional government. The Yangon Water Bus was launched on 7 October, 2017, and it has been providing ferry services on internal routes in Yangon City as well as on Kyauktan and Twantay routes for the past one-and-a-half-years.

Source: Global New Light of Myanmar 

More than K200 billion will be loaned to cooperatives across the nation on Saturday, the United Nations’ International Day of Cooperatives, said U Myo Aung, director of the Department of Cooperatives. A total of K213.24 billion for small loans, seeds and farm upgrades will be extended. Previously, cooperatives provided only micro-finance services, but since 2014, they have expanded to loans for seeds and farm upgrades. Also, the cooperatives formerly relied solely on the savings of members, but in 2014, they began receiving Chinese loans.

Despite criticism about the high risk involved, the loans are extended and recovered once every six months. The department controls cooperatives to achieve sustainable development. Despite some criticism, cooperatives have created nearly 200,000 jobs.  Myanmar’s cooperatives were established 114 years ago. The Central Cooperative Society joined the International Co-operative Alliance in 1993.

Source: Myanmar Times 

An instruction has been issued to the relevant authorities to move electric meters from utility poles to more prominent place for the public, said U Soe Myint, deputy permanent secretary of Ministry of Electricity and Energy. The ministry has requested Yangon Electricity Supply Corp, Mandalay Electricity Supply Corp and Electricity Supply Enterprise, the three largest suppliers of electricity in the country, to carry out the relocation of the meters.

However, a time-frame for the completion of work has not been laid out. The ministry has also taken into consideration the possibility of meters being rigged by dishonest parties to lower their power bills. To counter the possibility, the readings of the meters through June 30 have been recorded. Action was taken against power company workers who colluded with business owners to rig meters in the past, and similar action will also be taken this time around if cases are detected.

There have been mixed reactions since the government announced the increase in electricity rates beginning this month. The rate increase was needed in order for the government to reduce the electricity production costs, to electrify other off-grid areas in the country and to establish a stable power supply.

Source: Myanmar Times 

DaNa Facility and a microfinance institution will invest in a new mobile banking project which will extend digital financial inclusion to Myanmar’s unserved population in rural areas and disadvantaged groups.

VisionFund Myanmar (VFM), a UK-based microfinance institution, together with the Department for International Development (DFID)’s DaNa Facility will put down US$1.7 million for a financial services scheme for clients in the remote parts of Myanmar. VFM will receive assistance to upgrade their system and technology and utilise mobile applications so it can further expand its services to include women, migrant workers, and smallholder farmers.

VFM is also aiming to make partnerships with telecom operators to launch its mobile banking services. With such partnership, VFM will be able to increase the range of its financial services offered to clients beyond traditional loans, savings, and insurance, to include top-up, remittance, and bill payment facilities. This is in line with their social mission to expand and deepen client outreach and impact by offering affordable and sustainable financial services to otherwise under-served segments of the population. VFM and its partner will cooperate on educating the customers on financial and digital literacy.

Source: Myanmar Times  

All drivers employed with YBS bus lines will be given smart cards this month, said U Aung Nyi Nyi Maw, Managing Director, Yangon Region Transport Authority. The complete issuance of smart cards to YBS drivers is expected in July. There are more than 5,000 drivers who have applied for smart cards. The transport authority has said it will give first priority to drivers with large companies, followed by medium-sized companies, when issuing smart cards.

Once drivers from the large and medium companies are covered, then drivers from the remaining bus lines will be given smart cards, according to the YRTA. Once the smart cards are issued, the YRTA will have the personal information of every single driver, so it will be simpler for the authority to deal with complaints or take action against undisciplined drivers.

The YRTA will have a centralized database detailing the job history and work experience of YBS drivers. This will make it easy to trace drivers quickly. According to the transport authority, it is currently dealing with 1,012 cases involving driver indiscipline — four cases of drivers changing routes, 790 cases of fine receipt, and 218 complaints against drivers. In addition, there were 13 accidents involving buses, that left four people dead and 22 injured.

Source: Global New Light of Myanmar