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MIC Aims to Facilitate Foreign Investments

15/05/2019

AUTHOR: MYANMAR BUSINESS TODAY

The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) collaborated with the DaNa Facility, a UK aid-funded program, to organize a one-day workshop to promote and facilitate foreign investments. Over 50 officials, who represented 16 different agencies of the Myanmar Government that deal with such investments, were in attendance. The workshop provided an enhanced understanding of foreign investors’ requirements. It also dealt with the adverse effects of bureaucratic rules and regulations on investors, as well as ways to support DICA in responding to their needs.

This workshop was the first in a series designed to attract both domestic and foreign direct investment; the series as a whole will reach out to investment agencies in the various states and regions of Myanmar. The second workshop (16-17 May) will be held in Yangon, and cover lower Myanmar; the third (20-21 May) will be held in Mandalay, and cover upper Myanmar. All three will review the Myanmar-language version of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Handbook on Investment Promotion and Facilitation. This document was prepared jointly by DICA and the DaNa Facility.

The workshop also reviewed recent developments in responsible and inclusive business, financial inclusion, the business environments of states and regions, as well as in the Private Sector Development (PSD). These developments will strengthen the business environment, empower the private sector to create jobs, and improve the incomes of men and women in Myanmar. The effects will be especially apparent to the poorest people who live in more remote areas of the country. Attracting responsible and inclusive businesses, and building on the competitive strengths of the various states and regions, can play a critical role in strengthening the economy and social well-being of those areas; it can thus aid in supporting national security and peace.

U Aung Naing Oo, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, stressed the importance of investment facilitation. He also highlighted the role of all Government agencies involved in promoting and facilitating these investments. He said: “Investment promotion and facilitation are two sides of the same coin. Without facilitation, there will be no effective investment promotion. The Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan highlights the importance of investment in enhancing socio-economic development, as well as reducing poverty and creating jobs. Facilitation – which involves coordination, harmonization, and synchronization – is critical to achieve our investment attraction target goals.”

Peter Brimble, Senior Technical Advisor of the DaNa Facility, said: “We know that there are many ways in which private sector activities can benefit society and the poor, and an important element of this involves the kind of support to investment and business environment improvement that we are implementing today. This innovative investment promotion and facilitation workshop is a critical element of the Government’s overall approach to private sector development.”

PSD should stimulate economic growth and social development for all men and women. It will increase opportunities to earn a livelihood, and also enable people to follow their dreams and to improve their lives. Overall, PSD will reduce poverty and inequality, while simultaneously enhancing national productivity, competitiveness, and economic security.