Market Facts

Myanmar’s Economy Update

Myanmar is now listed among the top 20 improvers of the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report.
Encouragingly, several of the lowest-ranked economies are actively reforming in pursuit of a better business environment. Over the past year, Myanmar introduced substantial improvements in five areas measured by Doing Business-starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, protecting minority investors, and enforcing contracts. This ambitious reform program allowed the country to rise out of the bottom 20 to a ranking of 165.

Myanmar Grants Commercial Tax Exemption for 14 Embassies (Oct 22)
The Ministry of Commerce announced a commercial tax exemption for 14 embassies in Myanmar including Delegation of the European Union, on October 3. The ministry said it granted this exemption for embassies, representative offices and counselor offices in Myanmar in accordance with Article 29 of the Commercial Tax Law to meet the mutual exemption agreement.

The government previously approved a commercial tax exemption for 33 embassies in Myanmar, and the 14 new entries on the list are in addition to those. The new embassies include: the Embassy of The Czech Republic, the Embassy of Finland, the Embassy of Poland, the Embassy of Qatar, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Embassy of New Zealand, the Embassy of Poland, the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of Spain, the Embassy of Turkey, and the Delegation of the European Union.

The commercial tax exemption will apply to purchasing of business related items including: food, office materials, pharmaceutical and medical equipment, and utility bills.

Food & Hospitality Market update & opportunity

Yangon approves $238M in hotel, tourism investments
Yangon’s Regional Tourism Committee recently announced that investments totalling US$238 million and K119.63 billion were approved for the region’s hotels and tourism sector between May and August.

In the same period, the committee approved investments for 33 new hotels and eight guest houses, approved 18 new hotels, 400 new travel agencies, and 200 tour guides. Meanwhile, Yangon’s department of Hotels and Tourism reported that over 743,000 travellers visited Yangon in the seven months up to July, 100,000 more than in the same period a year ago. There are currently some 430 hotels and motels operating in Yangon Region, according to government data.

“Now, we are starting a rating system in Yangon and working to ensure quality control in tourism services. We need to encourage businesses in the sector to provide a full range of services to encourage tourists to come more than once,” said Yangon Region Minister of Hotel and Tourism Daw Naw PanThinzar Myo.