Discussion on Foreign Currency Exchange

For the stability of foreign currency exchange rates, U Kyaw Win, Union Minister for Planning & Finance, Dr Than Myint, Union Minister for Commerce, U Kyaw Kyaw Maung, Governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM), U Maung Maung Win, deputy minister for Planning & Finance, U Set Aung, vice chairman of CBM and U Toe Aung Myint, permanent secretary of the ministry of commerce held a meeting in the meeting hall of the Ministry of Planning & Finance yesterday afternoon.
In the meeting, it was broadly discussed how the American dollar is gradually appreciating and how exchange rates of other currencies against the dollar are dropping. The ministers and officials noted that though there is the normal slumping of currency exchange rates, some are taking advantage of the situation in order to manipulate the exchange rates. Plans currently in practice and further plans to be carried out were discussed in the meeting. Included in the discussion were matters on allowing the import of luxury commodities, essential goods, motor vehicles, Duty Free Shop Goods and cosmetic products only after careful scrutiny. As regards exports, increasing use of the L/C System — Letter of Credit System — instead of exercising the T/T System — Telegraphic Transfer System, scrutiny of the remittance of foreign currency to overseas countries to re-invest capital, scrutiny of earnings coming into the country from exports and re-exports, assessment of reducing taxes levied on exports, assessment of increasing taxes on imported luxury items, submission of authorised bank statements and taking legal action against companies that try to cheat with bank statements.
Similar meetings will be held regularly every week, it is learnt.— Myanmar News Agency

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Twelve local and foreign enterprises permitted to invest US$86.531million

A total of 12 local and foreign enterprises have received permission to invest US$86.531million in Myanmar, according to a meeting held by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on 17th December.
Six local investment businesses and six foreign businesses were permitted to make investments in Myanmar, according to a Myanmar Investment Commission meeting held on 19th December.
Out of 12 permitted enterprises, most of them will invest in garment enterprises. The foreign investments are from China, Hong Kong and South Korea, said U Aung Naing Oo, the director-general of DICA.
The permitted six foreign enterprises will make investments of US$24.560million in the industrial enterprises, creating 4,201 job opportunities, it is learnt.
Meanwhile, six local enterprises are permitted to invest US$61.971million in two industrial enterprises, one real estate development project, two hotels and tourism projects and one service business, creating 1,195 jobs.
Myanmar Investment Commission approves the investments proposals only after making assessments of the proposals to check if they meet the set criteria: creating job opportunities, increasing revenue, ensuring prevention from environmental impact etc.
There are a total of 78 foreign enterprises with investments of US$2,146.934million and 37 Myanmar Citizen investment projects with investments of US$518.506million as of 19th December in this fiscal year.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Fourth telco hoping to get licence for Christmas

​The director of one of 11 local firms that will form part of Myanmar’s long-awaited fourth telecom operator says the consortium will receive its telecoms licence next week.



Mobile phone sales have soared in Myanmar as the three existing telco firms have expanded operations. Aung Khant/ The Myanmar Times
A year has passed since the government announced a tender for a fourth operator, which Vietnam defence ministry owned-firm Viettel won through dint of being the only one to submit its proposal by the deadline.
The company joined with a consortium of 11 local firms called Myanmar National Telecom Holding Public, and a subsidiary of military-run Myanmar Economic Corporation called Star High Public Company.

U Zaw Min Oo, a director of Myanmar Technologies and Investment Corporation – one of the 11 local firms – told The Myanmar Times this week that he expects the telco to receive its licence on December 21.

“The ministry is arranging to provide the telecom license on that day in Nay Pyi Taw,” he said, adding that he could not share any further details of the new firm.

U Zaw Min Oo said in October that senior management positions have been filled, with a Viettel 

official taking the chief executive position.

The new telco will hold a press conference in Yangon on December 23 after receiving the licence, he told The Myanmar Times this week.

U Myo Swe, deputy director of the Posts and Telecommunications Department under the Ministry of Transport and Communication, said on December 13 that the ministry was in the “final stage” of giving the licence.

‘“Currently, we are discussing the license template and when this process finishes we will give the licence,” he said.

The new telco join state-owned incumbent MPT, and established foreign firms Telenor and Ooredoo in the competition for customers. Although senior executives at the three existing telcos have said that with the rate at which firms are adding customers slowing, competition will shift towards data services.

Source : Myanmar Times

Tourism investment up despite drop in visitors

Tourists and Myanmar visitors watch the sun set from the top of a temple at Bagan. Photo: Staff

The number of foreign travelers visiting in Myanmar is down on 2015, but foreign investment in the tourist sector shows a 15 percent increase, according to data from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. Although officials caution that investment decisions should be based on the right data.

Ministry data shows that as of the end of September this year 3.1 million tourists had visited the country, compared with 3.3 million over the same period in 2015.

But that has not stopped the potential for Myanmar tourism attracting US$3 billion in foreign investment across 56 projects as of the end of November, according to U Myint Htwe, director of the tourism ministry.

“That’s up from $2.6 billion across 48 projects in 2015, which [in dollar value] is an increase of over 15pc,” he told The Myanmar Times. By country of origin, Thailand is the “biggest investor in tourism this year, while United Arab Emirates was the smallest investors”, he added.

The country has increased the number of hotel rooms available for tourists from 9132 at the end of 2015 to 11207 at the end of November, ministry data showed.

But some travel industry operators are worried that investors and tourism entrepreneurs are basing investment decisions on bad data. Analysts have been questioning how Myanmar compiles its tourism data for years, because the majority of foreign visitors recorded are day trippers arriving by land from China or Thailand.

Of the 3.3 million visitors that had visited by the end of September 2015, only 1.1 million arrived by international airport or port, according to tourism ministry data. As of the end of September this year, the number of border-crossing visitors was the same – 2.2 million – but the number of international arrivals was down to 900,000.

The total number of tourist reported in 2015 was 4.68 million, a figure that the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) accepted. But U Ohn Maung, Minister for Hotels and Tourism, said at a recent forum on sustainable tourism that this number was the wrong figure for hotel investors to look at.

The minister was speaking at a Sustainable Tourism Development forum in Taw Win Garden hotel in Yangon on December 7.

“When the investors extend hotel projects based on this data, they [risk] losses because the real tourist number is more [like] 1.2 million visitors last year,” he said. “That’s why we intend to release the right figures such as how many real tourists visited and how many are day return trippers across the border,” U Ohn Maung said.

Tourism ministry director U Myo Win Nyunt said previously that the ministry will reconsider the system for country tourist arrivals, and intends to release the new data once every two months.

But despite the actual number of tourists being far lower than the data suggests, the tourism and hotel industry remains in need of investment in human resources and skilled labour, said U Ohn Maung.

“We are planning to development human resources by cooperating with the education department and open vocational training schools,” he said. “We have already trained around 10,000 people within the first nine months this year and that program is continuing.”

U Ohn Maung also expects a 35pc increase in visitors from Singapore following the start of a visa exemption program between the two countries on December 1.

“I do expect an increase in Singaporeans travellers if we successfully promote the variety of tourist attractions Myanmar has to offer,” he said. “Myanmar is safe, excellent to travel in the whole year round, and Myanmar food is certainly something to come back for over and over again.”

Over 100,000 visitors from Myanmar travelled to Singapore last year, but only 40,000 visitors from Singapore arrived in Myanmar.

“It is not fair in terms of tourism,” said Daw May Myat Mon Win, chair of the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Committee. “From the very beginning many Myanmar people go to Singapore for a variety of reasons such as study, job opportunity, medical treatment and leisure. Many more people will go with the visa exemption, so we have to promote our tourism [industry] to attract travelers into Myanmar.”

The imbalance exists between countries, but this also gives Myanmar a lot of potential, she said. More than 200,000 people from Myanmar visited Thailand last year, while only around 150,000 Thai visitors came to Myanmar, said Daw May Myat Mon Win.

“That’s why the [Myanmar tourism] market is a attractive,” she said.

Source :Myanmar Times

China eyes high speed railway as part of One Belt, One Road strategy

​A superfast railway will connect Myanmar’s cities, cutting the journey time from Muse, Shan State, to Yangon to one hour. That was the claim made by China’s consul general in a recent meeting in Mandalay.



Bicyclists cross railway tracks on the outskirts of Yangon. Photo: AFP

Wang Zongying was discussing China’s One Belt One Road project, which is intended to link China to the countries of Asia, and which would have particular implications for Myanmar. Work has already begun on the rail link that is to connect Ruili, in Yunnan province, to Thailand via Lashio, Mandalay, Yangon and Mawlamyine, said Mr Wang. He was speaking at Mandalay’s Pu Jin Chinese temple on November 27.

“This will be an Asian continental railroad that will connect Kunming and Ruili in Yunnan province with Thailand and Malaysia via Myanmar. Work has already begun on the rail link between Kunming and Ruili, and work is proceeding on the Lu Zen tunnel,” said Mr Wang.

“We want to connect Southeast Asia with a trans-Asia railroad that will go as far as Indonesia and Singapore, and we look forward to cooperation from the countries concerned,” he told The Myanmar Times. China was devoting great attention to questions of cost, he said.

He told the audience that the train would eventually reach a speed of 350kph, cutting the journey time from Muse to Yangon to an hour.

China-Myanmar Friendship Association chair U Poe Myint said the One Belt One Road project could bring China and Southeast Asia closer together, stimulating trade, creating jobs and developing the economy.

The project eventually envisages extending as far as Australia, Russia and Europe.

Mr Wang said the governments concerned had been gathering information and negotiating for the past three years. “The first success was the railway that connects China and Pakistan. There are also pipelines and railways that connect Russia and Central Asia that are already in operation. There is progress in the discussions with Australia and New Zealand, and an agreement with Malaysia to build a harbour, and with Thailand to dig a canal.”

Translation by Win Thaw Tar and San Layy

Source : Myanmar Times

Yangon-Mandalay railway upgrading to be put out for bids in Japan

A locomotive running on a railway-track bieng seen. Photo: Phoe Khwar

Tenders to upgrade the Yangon-Mandalay railway will be open for bids in early 2017 in Japan, said U Tun Aung Thin, a general manager from Myanma Railway (Lower Myanmar office).

Upgrading of this railway track is slated to be completed in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The aim of putting out tender bids in Japan is to invite experienced companies from Japan who will build the tracks to meet international criteria. This project will be provided by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).

There are three different railway routes that are part of the upgrading project on the Yangon-Mandalay railway: Yangon-Toungoo, Toungoo-Yamethin and Yamethin-Mandalay. The estimated cost of the project is about US$1,700million. Under the first phase, the upgrading of the Yangon-Toungoo railway track will be carried out, with an estimated cost of US$200million.

After the whole project is completed, the Yangon-Mandalay rail journey is expected to take eight hours, it is learnt.—200

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Apex Airlines

Golden Myanmar Airlines domestic routes

International flight of Air KBZ

Hotels and tourism sector likely to attract more FDI next FY: experts

Tourists taking pictures of a damaged pagoda in Bagan, on 25 August 2016. Photo: Reuters

MYANMAR’s hotel and tourism industry is likely to receive more foreign direct investment next year as many foreign companies eye the sector due to what is believed to be its bright future, according to the estimation of experts.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, over US$2.9 billion in 52 investment projects including FDI and joint-venture investment have been allowed in the hotels and tourism sector.

Among non-citizen investors, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam have topped the tourism investor list of Myanmar, followed by Hong Kong, Luxemburg, Japan, Malaysia, UK and UAE.

The ministry expects that international tourist arrivals are likely to reach more than 7 million over the next three years. The country hosted over 4.5 million foreign travelers last year, an increase of 52 per cent compared with 2014. The ministry estimates that the number will increase to 5.5 million this FY.

Myanmar will top the list of tourism development countries, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s estimation about future prospects and sustainable development of 180 countries during the period between 2015 and 2025, based on tourism contribution to the GDP ratio, development rate, employment opportunities, investments and exports.

Transportation plays an essential part in tourism development, which requires a focus on infrastructural development and better services, an expert said.—Khine Khant

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Museum at Mandalay Palace to be upgraded

Museum at Mandalay Palace also known as Myanansankyaw Shwenandaw. Photo: Aung Thant Khaing
THE MUSEUM at Mandalay Palace, also known as Myanansankyaw Shwenandaw, the last royal palace of Myanmar, will be upgraded this month with the financial assistance of families of the country’s armed forces.

Families of Myanmar’s Tatmadaw, headed by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, contributed over Ks180 million for the project to upgrade the existing structure of the museum by experts, said U Nyo Tun Myint, director of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum (Mandalay Branch).

On behalf of the Tatmadaw families, Commander of Central Command Maj Gen Win Bo Shein presented Ks187.933 million to the department last Monday, with the authorities planning to spend the funds on maintenance of some halls of the palace in need of repair and renovation, he added.

The cultural museum is situated on the western side of the palace grounds, showcasing many ancient artifacts including clothing fashions, furniture and other household articles of the King and general that has become one of the tourist attractions of Myanmar.

Located in the heart of Mandalay City, the Great Golden Royal Palace was built by King Mindon in the 1850s, when he shifted his capital from Amarapura. —Aung Thant Khaing.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Tourism ministry to cut admin charges in half to spur growth

A monk walks through a field near a temple in Bagan, one of Myanmar’s most popular tourist destinations. Photo: EPA
​The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is cutting administrative charges it levies on operators of tourism-related business in half, in order to promote more foreign investment into the sector and more foreign visitors to Myanmar.

A list of updated administrative costs will be released on October 1, affecting operators of hotels and guest houses, tour companies, tourism-related transportation services and tour guides, U San Yu, assistant director at the tourism ministry in Mandalay told The Myanmar Times. The cost of a host of business activities - including renewing a licence, altering the name of business or moving location - will be cut by 50 percent, he added.

The intention is to help draw more foreign visitors to Myanmar by allowing the tourism sector to expand and provide more services, he said. “There were a lot of reductions [in administrative charges] in previous years, but there is still not [enough] foreign investment in travel operations,” he said.

Myanmar’s tourism ministry has also made it easier for travel businesses to receive a licence by allowing online applications since July 1.

But lower charges are unlikely to placate concerned tourism entrepreneurs asking the government for a more favourable business environment. Tour guides, for example, are facing competition from unlicensed operators that do not face the same tax treatment or licence payments, U Ye Myat Tun, chair of the Mandalay Tour Guide Association, told The Myanmar Times.

“It is good to cut the charges by 50pc and that will help us develop travel operations,” he said. “But tour guides like us still have to pay a high rate of tax, and we need relevant departments to help ban illegal tour guides from operating.”

The tourism ministry in Mandalay has granted licences to 1279 tour guide operations, 115 travel companies and 183 hotels, according to ministry data.

Source : Myanmar Times

Mandalay - Bangkok - Mandalay by MNA

Mandalay - Bangkok - Mandalay by MAI

Source : maiair.com

Myanmar carrier faces fresh competition on Hong Kong route from low-cost international

​Budget Hong Kong airline HK Express is competing with state carrier Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) on the Yangon-Hong Kong route, and will also start a two-month run flying to Mandalay.



HK Express general manager Sherman Luk (right) cuts a ribbon with Myanmar officials at the carrier’s launch ceremony on September 1. Photo: SuppliedHK Express general manager Sherman Luk (right) cuts a ribbon with Myanmar officials at the carrier’s launch ceremony on September 1. Photo: Supplied

HK Express started Hong Kong-to-Yangon return flights yesterday, which it will operate four days a week – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

“The first flight is 90 percent full with Hong Kong people excited to explore Myanmar,” said Sherman Luk, general manager of HK Express.

The low-cost carrier will compete with fellow Hong Kong airline Dragon Air, Malaysia’s AirAsia and Myanmar’s MNA, which all operate the same route.

“It will have some impact [on our business],” said Captain Than Tun, chief executive of MNA, which only restarted international flights in 2015 after two decades of domestic operations. The carrier is already facing difficulties competing with more established foreign airlines for international traffic, he added.

“We haven’t had much time to prepare to compete with our peers because we’re still rebuilding the airline,” he said. MNA is in the middle of a corporatisation process that will eventually see it operate as a private company.

MNA flies to Hong Kong from Yangon four times a week in the low season and operates daily flights in peak tourist season, Capt Tun added.

HK Express will also start return flights from Hong Kong to Mandalay on September 5, and will run those flights twice a week, Mr Luk said. The firm will be the only carrier offering direct flights from Mandalay to Hong Kong, but is only operating the route until October 28.

Kayley So, a public relations officer for HK Express, would only say that “operational reasons” were behind the two-month window for Mandalay flights. But the airline will “explore any opportunity to operate the Mandalay-Hong Kong route in the future”, she said.

HK Express will be the third international airline to start Mandalay flights within the space of a week. MNA began thrice-weekly Mandalay-Bangkok flights on August 31, and Myanmar Airways International (MAI), the only other international carrier in Myanmar, started its own Mandalay-Bangkok flights yesterday.

Daw Aye Mra Tha, MAI’s head of marketing and public relations, said that the airline has applied to offer a direct flight to Kolkata, but was not looking at Hong Kong.

“There aren’t many passengers flying Yangon to Hong Kong,” she said. “It’s more a seasonal flight during Chinese New Year and the Myanmar Gems Emporium [in June].”

Source : MYANMAR TIMES 

Nearly 400 Bagan pagodas damaged by earthquake: govt

​As the list of Bagan pagodas damaged by last week’s earthquake continues to grow, the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library said yesterday that repair work would take at least one year to complete.



Tourists photograph the quake-damaged Sulamani Pagoda in Bagan on August 25. Photo: Kaung Htet / The Myanmar Times

The 6.8-magnitude tremor, which struck on August 24, was centred 25 kilometres (16 miles) west of Chauk in Magwe Region.

U Thein Lwin, deputy director general of the department, told The Myanmar Times yesterday that visitors are prohibited from entering 33 pagodas and are not allowed to climb to the upper levels of those pagodas for sunrise and sunset viewing.

“We have set the prohibition period for one year. We will allow visitors to enter and climb the pagodas again after the renovation period,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the prohibited list includes the popular Pyathatgyi, Shwesandaw, Htilominlo and Sulamani pagodas. The inventory of damaged pagodas and temples has also risen to 397 from last week’s count of 187.

The ministry also released a list of damaged pagodas in areas outside of Bagan, including 35 in Salay in Magwe Region, five in Mrauk-U in Rakhine State and 13 in Sagaing Region.

Representatives from local travel and tour companies expressed doubt that the tourism industry would be adversely affected by the earthquake, with some even suggesting that the quake had boosted international interest in the ancient pagodas. President U Htin Kyaw also said last week that there were plenty of undamaged pagodas for tourists to see.

Daw Sabei Aung, managing director of Nature Dreams travel and tours, said yesterday that at least five of the prohibited pagodas were included on their tour package list, but tourists have not complained about not being able to go inside.

“They understand the situation. We arrange to visit villages and offer other services in the Bagan region, so the tourists have been satisfied with our service,” she said.
Source : Myanmar Times 

Powerful earthquake hits central Myanmar

Breaking: A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Myanmar today, the US Geological Survey reported.



Fire department rescue workers examine the remains of a building destroyed by the earthquake in Taungdwingyi township, Magwe Region. Photo: Facebook / Myanmar Fire Services DepartmentFire department rescue workers examine the remains of a building destroyed by the earthquake in Taungdwingyi township, Magwe Region. Photo: Facebook / Myanmar Fire Services Department

The quake, which the agency said struck at a depth of 84 kilometres (52 miles), was felt in Yangon, as well as in the Thai and Bangladesh capitals (see map below).



Officials from Myanmar's Relief and Resettlement Department confirmed four casualties, as well as damage to 68 stupas and pagodas.

The epicentre was near Chauk, a town on the Ayeyarwady River around 30 kilometres south of Bagan, Myanmar's most famous archaeological site and home to more than 2,500 Buddhist monuments.

"Some famous pagodas were damaged during the earthquake," a tourist police officer from Bagan said, adding some of the damage in the major tourist destination was "serious".

Soe Win, a regional MP from the township in Magwe region, told AFP the tremors lasted for several minutes.

"There was also some sound as well. A pagoda collapsed in Salay and a building also collapsed," he said. The death of a 22-year-old in a building collapse near the epicentre was also confirmed.



Dhammayangyi temple shrouded in dust following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, which damaged 67 other temples and stupas across the region. Photo: AFPDhammayangyi temple shrouded in dust following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, which damaged 67 other temples and stupas across the region. Photo: AFP

The USGS estimated that the impact would be "relatively localised" but noted that many buildings in the region are "highly vulnerable" to earthquake shaking.

The quake was also felt in the Indian city of Kolkata, rocking tall structures and sending panicked residents out onto the streets.

"Services of the underground railway have been suspended fearing aftershocks of the quake," Kolkata Metro Railway spokesman Indrani Banerjee told AFP.

It was also felt throughout south and southwestern Bangladesh close to the border with Myanmar, with television footage showing residents running into the streets.

At least 20 people were injured as panicked workers tried to flee a building in the industrial area of Savar outside Dhaka, ATN Bangla television reported.

"All of us ran to the streets leaving the houses and shops unsecured as the quake seemed very dangerous," Nazmus Sakib from the southern city of Chittagong close to the Myanmar border wrote on his Facebook wall.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, though there has not been a major quake since 2012.

The last major quake struck in a nearby region in April and caused minor damages but no casualties.

This story is developing, and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Source : Myanmar Times 

MoHT expands ecotourism destinations

The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has announced they will open up 22 regions of the country to ecotourism for both foreign and local travelers.

Efforts to design the government-backed Ecotourism Plan began in 2015 in the name of developing Myanmar’s tourism sector, and are reportedly being drawn up in accordance with the relevant laws and legislation.

Ecotourism provides people with a sustainable and dependable livelihoods and advocates the protection and conservation of forests and woodlands.

“The numbers of tourists visiting Myanmar is augmenting year upon year. That’s why we’re expanding the eco-tourism projects.

We’ll also make it possible to survey the country’s flora and fauna in order to protect natural wildlife,” said U Tint Thwin, director of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

The Department of Forestry and MoHT are reportedly working together to expand eco-tourism to corners of Myanmar which presently receive little to no tourists.

“Myanmar now boasts twenty-two new eco-tourism destinations. That said, we haven’t been able to implement any economic activities in these areas as yet.

The reason being, we’re still eyeing which projects would be potentially sustainable. Then there’s the safety of tourists in these areas to think about, that’s important. Some parts of northern Kachin and Shan States still lack stability,” said U Thet Lwin Toh, chair of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association.

Some of the destinations earmarked for ecotourism development include the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myaing

Hay Wun Elephant Camp in Yangon Region and Khakaborazi National Park in the northern most frontiers of the country which surrounds Myanmar’s highest peak.

A total of 4.7 million foreign tourists streamed into Myanmar through its international airports during last year’s 2015-16 financial year, while estimates put this year’s figures at reaching 5.5 million.—Myitmakha News Agency

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar 

Yangon heritage building to become national library

​President U Htin Kyaw has approved a Yangon Heritage Trust proposal to relocate the National Library to downtown Yangon, making the national archives more visible and available to the public.

A pedestrian crosses the street in front of the former Burma Oil Company headquarters on Merchant Street. Photo: Aung Myin Ye Zaw / The Myanmar Times

The books will be moved from their current location on Thiri Mingalar Yeikthar Road in Yankin township to the former Burma Oil Company headquarters on Merchant Street, after the building has been renovated by YHT.

“This will be a great step forward for the rejuvenation of the old downtown. The library will also be far more accessible to the general public,” wrote YHT chair U Thant Myint-U on the group’s Facebook page.

He thanked U Thant Thaw Kaung, chief librarian at Yangon University Central Library.

The Ministry of Energy tendered the building late last year for long-term rent. Daw Shwe Yin Mar Oo, public relations manager for YHT said she could not yet provide additional details.

State media reported on July 29 that the National Library has 172,556 books, 435,580 periodicals, 12,323 palm leaf manuscripts, 345 hand-written letters, 25,468 rare books and other literary materials.

The Global New Light of Myanmar published a brief history of the library, which has reportedly been relocated several times since independence. The Bernard Free Library was taken over by the Ministry of Culture in 1952, renamed State Library, and moved to the Jubilee Hall, it said.

It later became the National Library and moved to Pansodan Streetand then to Yangon City Hall. After moving twice more, the books were temporarily housed in Tarmwe township when the building was damaged during Cyclone Nargis in 2008, they were moved again to their current location in Yankin. 

Source : Myanmar Times 

Fees for tourism industry licenses to be cut by half

​Fees for all licenses granted by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MoHT) will be reduced by 50 per cent starting from 1st October, said U Tint Thwin, the director-general of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

“The licenses granted by the ministry are: hotel licenses, tourism licenses, tour guide licenses and tourist transport business licenses. License fees are different from one another. We will scale down fees for all license to 50 per cent and also relax the rules requiring submission of recommendations,” he added.

The new rule will come into effect starting from 1st October. Those seeking licenses before then will have to pay the original prescribed fees.

The ministry warned that people who run hotels and tourism businesses without a license will be fined Ks50,000 and/or jailed for up to three years under section 23 of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism Law.

It added that action will be taken against those engaged in travel agencies without licenses upon the lapse of the awareness campaign period.

“We will encourage the hoteliers, motel proprietors and travel agents to hold licence during the awareness promotion period,” U Tint Thwin said.—200

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar 

Hotels help lacquer ware industry in Bagan

​

Women work on lacquer wares at an industry in Bagan. Photo: Aye Min Soe

A decrease of tourists to Bagan this wet season has forced lacquer ware dealers to rely soly on hotels as a point of sale, according to shopkeepers. Hotels not only sell them but also use them to serve food from.
Hotels from Yangon and Mandalay are also ordering Bagan laquer ware.
“We’re only processing large-scale orders, hotels are employing the use of lacquer ware products for more than just decoration these days. The number of hotels making orders with us has increased as a result,” said Ko Aung Kyaw Htun, owner of the U Ba Nyein lacquer ware store in Bagan.
The creation of a laquer ware product can take anywhere between four-six months with the process involving bamboo, wood and wooden dies.—Myitmakha News Agency

Source : Global News Light of Myanmar 

Overseas expansion plans heat up at Myanmar banks

Aya Bank plans to open representative offices overseas, while competitor KBZ Bank says it has applied to move into countries such as Japan and South Korea, in a sign that Myanmar’s banks are growing bolder in exploring overseas markets.

If successful, AYA would become the second Myanmar lender to expand beyond national borders – KBZ became the first in May when it received permission from Thailand to open a representative office in Bangkok.

AYA is part of the Max Myanmar Group, owned by tycoon U Zaw Zaw – the group and its owner are both blacklisted by the US Treasury, which may prove problematic for overseas business; although a special licence issued by Washington in 2013 allows the bank to form direct correspondent relationships with US companies.

Deputy managing director David Wang Soe Lin said AYA Bank has been building strong relationships with its counterparts across the region and that overseas expansion will be the next step.

“As of this moment, we are working with our foreign bank counterparts in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan to help facilitate cross-border transactions and advisory,” he said. “We have intentions to move beyond Myanmar and increase our presence in ASEAN in the near future.”

He said local banks need to start building a presence beyond Myanmar to support client needs overseas, though at first AYA Bank, like KBZ, will open representative offices.

“One must understand the difference between a rep office and a branch set-up,” he said. “There is a huge limitation to a rep office whereby it can only function as an information collection point, while a branch licence allows the bank to perform banking transaction and services.”

While dozens of foreign banks have representative offices in Myanmar, the government only started to issue branch licences to international lenders in 2014, initially to nine banks, then to another four at the start of this year.

Meanwhile KBZ, Myanmar’s largest commercial bank, which benefits from being free from US sanctions, will begin to operate its first foreign offices in Bangkok and Singapore within the next month, said senior managing director U Than Cho.

He said KBZ Bank already has permission from all relevant authorities to open representative offices in Bangkok and Singapore and has found office space in both countries.

“We will start to operate both representative offices within this month and we will apply to open a branch after we have six months’ or one year’s experience running an office,” he said, adding that the bank is also applying to open a representative office in Malaysia and hopes to do the same in Japan and Korea.

“With a representative office we will not be able to offer banking services; it will just make it easier for us to make connections with foreign banks. To open a branch overseas is not difficult, we just need detailed documents, and I believe we can do this soon,” he said.

Source : Myanmar Times

Community-based tourism coming to Chin State

Visitors hike in Natmataung National Park in Chin State. Photo: Staff

Forever Top Travel and Tours will begin prepping for business in Saw Loung village this month, with hopes of opening in October.

“Implementing community-based tourism in Chin State is mainly intended to create more job opportunities and reduce poverty,” Daw Zin Mar from Forever Top told The Myanmar Times. “We met and spoke with villagers interested in getting involved with CBT. We explained how we can help them earn income from that kind of work.”

The initial CBT project in Saw Loung village is near Natmataung National Park and is backed by ActionAid Myanmar, which will guide the process and offer suggestions.

Saw Loung village, which is a 15-minute drive from Kanpetlet, has only 31 households and a population of more than 170 people, but has a lot of potential for eco-tourism thanks to all the traditional culture, food, and natural scenery, Daw Zin Mar said.

“We’re going to build five buildings, each with double rooms in the style of Chin traditional houses, for tourist accommodation,” she said. “ActionAid will give hospitality training to villagers. Then we will start to transfer responsibilities to the villager so eventually they’ll be able to lead the CBT on their own.”

If they are free from construction delays, they hope to begin accepting clients during the tourist season in October. Bagan is only a five-hour drive away, she said.

“The Kanpetlet-Bagan Road is very convenient,” Daw Zin Mar said.

Chin State has much potential for tourism but it needs to implement basic transportation, communication and electricity infrastructure, said U Khin Aung Htun, joint secretary of the Myanmar Tourism Federation.

“We have to be careful to be aware of the supply and demand,” he said. “For example, the previous Inle hotel zone location was wrong and the Nay Pyi Taw hotel zone has a huge room surplus.”

Tourism is one of 21 small and medium business enterprises officials are nurturing in Chin State, Salai Isaac Khen, state minister for development affairs, electricity and industry, told The Myanmar Times. They will allow hotel construction permits and supply basic infrastructure for industry development, he said.

“Chin State has the right places to implement community-based tourism that will directly benefit locals if the projects are a success, which will increase taxes when it’s booming with tourists,” he said. “But we’re only permitting the hotels where many tourists come and won’t be implementing a hotel zone that can have an unnecessary impact.”

They are planning to continuously implement more CBT villages in northern parts of Chin State, in townships like Tiddim and Falam, after the success of the initial project.

“We won’t confirm which village will support the next CBT because we haven’t met and spoken with local people yet,” Salai Isaac Khen said.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, there are three hotels in Mindat township and one in Kanpetlet.

Source : Myanmar Times

Thai Lion Air extends wings to Yangon

Thai Lion Air (TLA) would extend its wings from Thailand’s Don Muaeng Airport to Yangon as from 22 July.
The Thai-registered low-cost carrier, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Lion Air Group, will operate twice daily from Bangkok to Yangon, offering free 30 Kg checked-in baggage and free 15 Kg for sport equipment to every passenger, said Captain Darsito Hendroseputro, Managing Director of TLA, at the press conference in Yangon yesterday.—GNLM

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

JCB to open Yangon Branch

JCB and MPU agreed in March to issue cards in Myanmar. Photo: Supplied by JCB

JCB International is cooperating with Myanmar Payment Union banks to issue JCB cards by the end of 2016 or as soon as next year, according to a press release from the group. As well  as this partnership JCB is establishing a branch in Yangon under the subsidiary JCB International (Thailand) Co. Ltd.
JCB will be working with Ayeyawady Bank and Co-operative Bank. Naoya Michishima, Managing Director of JCB International (Thailand), said, “I am excited to have a new branch in Myanmar, which is one of the fastest growing countries in Asia. With this launch, now we will be able to build even closer relationships with our partners and develop our business in the Mekong region,”
Adding, “We have been making efforts to provide support to the expansion of the Myanmar payment market in cooperation with MPU. I am confident that the issuance of MPU/JCB card in summer 2016 will grow the market even further and will contribute to the financial inclusion promoted by the government.” 31 million merchants in 190 countries are in JCB’s network with more than 95 million card members; they have also formed partnerships with 350 world-leading banks and financial institutions. The company launched its card business in 1961 and began expanding in 1981 worldwide.—GNLM

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

E-licences to be issued for tourism industry

A guide gives information about mural paintings to a tourist in Bagan. Photo: EPAA

From July 1, the government will begin offering online registration for the tourism industry. Hotels, tour companies, guides and tourist transportation businesses can obtain an e-licence, which the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism hopes will expedite approvals and encourage prospective entrants to the fast-growing industry.

 “It will support applicants to get [a licence] faster and more easily within a short time, which is the main intention of e-government. We will try to issue tourism information cards for tourists as well,” said U Thint Thwin, director general of the ministry.

The tourism information cards would provide visitors with data about Myanmar’s tourism industry such as airline schedules, bus options and other modes of transportation, as well as a list of restaurants and other advice, he said. The ministry is still collecting data for the card.

“We are also negotiating with communications experts from MPT, Ooredoo, Telenor and Vietnam’s Viettel to provide the system electronically,” he added.

Currently, the hotels and tourism ministry issues four kinds of licences: A hotel licence costs between K200,000 (US$170) and K1.9 million, depending on the number of rooms; a tour company licence runs K400,000; a tour guide licence goes for K50,000; and a licence to provide transportation for tourists costs between K50,000 and K500,000 depending on the vehicle, according to information provided by the ministry.

Licence holders must reapply every two years, said U Myo Win Nyunt, director of the ministry.

Tour operators have reacted positively to the announcement of the e-licence scheme.

“The e-licence will reduce tax corruption and the application process will be more convenient and easy. It will increase the number of new tourism companies,” U Aung Cho Win, director of the Marcopolo Travels & Tours company, told The Myanmar Times.

In previous years, tourism entrepreneurs applying for permits have had to go to the ministry's offices in Yangon or Nay Pyi Taw, a costly and sometimes laborious hurdle, said U Zaw Win Cho, former chair of the Bagan Guide Association.

“If we can apply for a licence online, that will save time and money. We’re happy about that,” he said.

Nationwide, as of May, the hotels and tourism ministry had issued 1351 licences for hotels, 2130 for tour companies, 6309 for tour guides and 536 for tourists’ transportation vehicles.

Foreign arrivals to Myanmar have grown dramatically since the former junta ceded power in 2011. That year, the country clocked just 800,000 arrivals. Last year the number reached nearly 4.7 million, though some argue that many of those arrivals are not conventional tourists but rather businesspeople or Thais making only short trips across the two countries’ shared border.

Source : Myanmar Times

Five countries discuss single-visa scheme

In what could one day become Southeast Asia’s version of the European Union’s Schengen visa-free zone, Myanmar and four other countries are discussing the introduction of a single visa that would permit travel to all of them.

The issue was aired at a meeting in Thailand that brought together Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand in the so-called CLMVT 2016 forum.

“We discussed travel to the five countries on a single visa. These are just initial steps toward implementation,” said Union Tourism Minister U Ohn Maung at a press conference on June 19 at Inle Lake Hotel.

U Phyo Wai Yar Zar, chair of the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Committee, who participated in the forum, told The Myanmar Times the new travel arrangement might take some time. “It may not be easy to create a single visa for five countries because even a bilateral visa takes time to arrange. There will have to be a lot of negotiation.”

He said the problem was essentially political. “If we got the single visa, people who live in the region could travel easily, which would be good for the tourism industry,” especially if the visa permitted cross-border travel overland as well as at international airports.

“Visa-free travel would make foreign trips so much easier,” he said.

Daw Sabei Aung, managing director of Nature Dreams travel and tours, said if ASEAN countries formed a single visa zone like Europe’s Schengen system, it would ease progress toward a single market, improve access to healthcare on the basis of mutual recognition of health insurance and worker security, and harmonising prices and standards in trade.

“But the existence of differing policies in countries of the region is still a weakness,” she said.

Last year, Myanmar received the Best Destination Award 2015 within the ASEAN Economic Community from Lonely Planet.

Source : Myanmar Times

Martyrs’ Mausoleum gets an upgrade

Martyrs’ Mausoleum is under renovation in Yangon on June 16. ( Kaung Htet / The Myanmar Times)

Amid hopes that President U Htin Kyaw himself might attend, ambitious preparations are going forward to mark the 69th anniversary of Martyrs’ Day on July 19, including plans to renovate Martyrs’ Mausoleum in Yangon before the ceremony. The mausoleum was built to honour the national heroes assassinated in 1947, including Bogyoke Aung San, Mahn Ba Khaing and U Razak.

U Nay Win, deputy head of the Department of Engineering (Building) of Yangon City Development Committee, told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the large-scale renovation was being carried out on the instructions of the Union government.

“We usually renovate the mausoleum before Martyrs’ Day, but this year we will undertake large-scale repairs. Architects are drawing up new designs, which we will implement pending a decision from the Union level,” he said, adding that the proposed design entailed decorating the rocks with images of the nation’s martyrs.

On June 6, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein met with YCDC committee members and chief engineers at the mausoleum to discuss the renovation plans. The government will soon set up an organising committee to decide who should be invited to the event.

U Zaw Htay, the spokesperson for the President’s Office, said no decision had been taken yet to invite the nationwide ceasefire agreement signatory groups, and it was not known whether the president himself would appear. It would be the first such appearance by a Union president.

However, the spokesperson was quoted in The Voice Daily on June 15 saying that the government intended to invite ethnic armed groups to attend the Martyrs’ Day ceremony.

The ethnic armed groups could not be reached for comment on the matter.

Last year, vice president Sai Mauk Kham attended the ceremony in Yangon, the highest-ranking official to have attended the ceremony.

Source : Myanmar Times

Western Union launches outbound money transfers

Western Union has launched outbound money transfer services this week almost four years after it first entered the country.

The global payment services firm will now allow people in Myanmar to transfer up to US$3000 a day to more than 500,000 locations around the world, through its nine local agent banks.

Customers can transfer money without opening a bank account, regional senior vice president Patricia Riingen told media on June 7.

The company works with Kanbawza Bank, CB Bank, AYA Bank, Yoma Bank, Myanmar Apex Bank, First Private Bank, Global Treasure Bank and Myanmar Oriental Bank, she said.

“Through these banks, customers can quickly transfer money to over 200 countries, to send to family members, for scholarships, health, travel or sending presents.”

Until this week, Western Union only offered inbound services, allowing overseas workers to send remittances back to Myanmar.

While convenient, Western Union services are more expensive than the hundi system, an informal exchange where an agent in one country asks their counterpart in another to pay the beneficiary, often on the same day.

The hundi system is quick, cheap, secure, unregulated and widely used by migrant workers.

Translation by Khine Thazin Han

Source : Myanmar Times

EU to start ASEAN aviation talks

Immigration officers talk beside conveyor belts at Yangon’s new international airport terminal. Photo: Aung Myin Ye Zaw / The Myanmar Times

The European Commission is planning to start negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on an aviation agreement soon, having received a mandate from EU transport ministers earlier this week.

The EU is hoping to create new airline routes and new business opportunities for European firms through bilateral agreements with ASEAN and countries like Turkey and Qatar. The moves are part of an EU aviation strategy published in December last year.

Myanmar, meanwhile, is still in the process of adapting to a more liberalised ASEAN aviation sector, which has raised concerns about how the country’s fledgling airline industry will fare against more foreign competition.

An ASEAN-EU agreement would aim to provide more direct flights between the two blocs, and create business opportunities for airlines by reducing restrictions on access to the EU and ASEAN markets. Such an agreement would bring almost 8 billion euros (US$9 billion) in “economic benefits” during the first seven years, according to EU estimates.

The EU already has an open skies system, where any European carrier can operate a flight between any two EU countries, and has been assisting ASEAN’s efforts to create its own single aviation market. The ASEAN Air Transport Integration Project (AATIP) was launched by the EU in 2012 to help ASEAN create common regulations, safety standards and build regional institutions.

An AATIP seminar in Yangon last week was held with the aim of helping Myanmar and its airlines understand the impact of aviation liberalisation, including fifth freedom air traffic rights, and to identify barriers to competition in Myanmar.

Fifth freedom rights allow an airline to fly between two foreign countries as long as the flight originates or ends in its home country. Although the ASEAN Open Skies policy, which came into effect in 2015, allows for fifth freedom rights, they are not well defined.

Alan Tan, a professor at the National University of Singapore Law School specialising in aviation law, believes that Myanmar’s carriers, because of their current size, would not benefit as much as other larger carriers from ASEAN from fifth freedom rights in the region. But there would be net benefits to Myanmar from more tourism and foreign investment, he said.

Officials in Myanmar’s airline industry have expressed concern about competition from other ASEAN carriers, most of which are larger and more established, and often benefit from a more favourable tax regime in their home country.

Source : Myanmar Times

Myanmar’s only synagogue receives blue heritage plaque

Sammy Samuels (left), Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein (centre) and U Thant Myint-U. Photo: Thiri Lu / The Myanmar Times

Yangon Heritage Trust awarded a commemorative blue heritage plaque to the Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon yesterday.

The plaque was installed at the synagogue to remember the Jewish community who lived in Yangon for many generations and to recognise the diverse faiths still alive in the city today, said YHT founder U Thant Myint-U.

“The synagogue was part of a once-flourishing Jewish community in Yangon and a reminder that Yangon has always been, since its founding in the 1750s, home to people with connections across the world,” he said yesterday.

“We have dozens of religious sites, belonging to all major religions, in downtown Yangon, and this is something to be proud of and celebrated.”

The first known Jew to have lived in Myanmar was Solomon Gabirol who was a commissar in King Alaungpaya’s army, but it is very likely that Jewish links to Myanmar go much further back, perhaps to the time of the first Roman trading missions to the East nearly 2000 years ago, he said.

Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue was built in Yangon between 1893 and 1896 to replace a wooden structure from 1854. The Jewish community at that time was around 2500 but today there are only a handful of Jews native to Yangon, he added.

The Samuels family takes care of the synagogue, cemetery and what remains of the Jewish community in the city, said U Thant Myint-U.

“I am very proud and very excited for this blue plaque. It does not just show the architectural significance but also recognises the dedication of families and individuals to preserve these buildings,” said caretaker Sammy Samuels.

Monuments and buildings around the city hold the stories of all its different communities, he said.

Ma Shwe Yin Mar Oo from YHT said the organisation has chosen five more heritage buildings to receive blue plaques. Eleven buildings across the city already carry them, including City Hall, AYA Bank headquarters, the Armenian Church, the Central Fire Station, the General Post Office, Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank, the Central Press Building and the Indian Embassy.

Source: Myanmar Times

Resort to be established in Myeik

Cruise ships in the Myeik Archipelago.AS part of its effort to promote the tourism industry, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism will establish a new resort in Myeik, Taninthayi Region.In the first phase of the environmental impact assessment for the project, the ministry will organise a meeting with residents to explain the project and ask their views, planning to provide construction opportunities to local entrepreneurs if the meeting produces positive outcomes. “We needs to explore new destinations as there are many beautiful untouched islands in the region,” U Hlwan Moe, assistant director of the directorate of hotels and tourism in Kawthaung Region. Located in the southern part of Myanmar, the Myeik Archipelago consists of over 800 islands, all lying in the Andaman Sea. It is the natural habitat of 42 species of fish, 518 kinds of coral and 228 varieties of birds.—200

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Nearly 1,400 hotels, guest houses operating in Myanmar

Shangri-La Hotel seen in Yangon.

THE number of hotels and guest houses up until the end of this April have reached 1,345 with 52,466 rooms across the country, according to official figures released by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.Since 2011 the ministry has been relaxing restrictions relating to the issuance of operating licences to both local and foreign investors in the hospitality industry in order to provide better services for international visitors.There are 338 hotels and guest houses with 16,218 rooms in Yangon, 176 hotels with 7,071 rooms in Mandalay, 63 hotels with 5,111 rooms in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, 32 hotels with 888 rooms in Taunggyi, 85 hotels with 2,621 rooms in Inlay and 81 hotels with 2,761 rooms in Bagan.Tour operators say that tourist arrivals are likely to increase this year as a master plan, designed to promote the sector, is being implemented by the ministry.The number of both local and international businesspeople wishing to operate service businesses in the county has also increased month by month.Last year’s tourist arrivals reached a total of 4.68 millions. That number is expected to be surpassed this year.The ministry has permitted 2,091 licences to tour companies, 536 tourist transport licences, 3939 tour guide licences and 2369 local tour guide licences. ML/Union Daily

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

B&Bs open up Thandaunggyi to foreign visitors

The I Wish property is one of six B&Bs in Thandaunggyi. Supplied

For more than 100 years, Naw Hsergay’s family lived in the same colonial-style home, passing it down from generation to generation. And then last year they decided to throw open their doors to visitors.

I Wish is one of six properties to be granted a bed and breakfast (B&B) licence in northern Kayin State’s Thandaunggyi since 2015, with another proposed B&B still under construction.

The licences are being issued under a pilot program being jointly implemented by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and state governments, with Thandaunggyi one of two participating regions of the country.

B&Bs differ from hotels in that they must have between four and eight rooms – hotels must have a minimum of 10 – and be at least part-owned by a member of the community. The rooms have to meet standards for cleanliness and comfort, and must be in a separate building from where the owners are staying.

Since opening in October, I Wish has slowly built up a steady stream of guests – but it hasn’t been easy.

For more, please visit to http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/travel/20205-b-bs-open-up-thandaunggyi-to-foreign-visitors.html

Source : Myanmar Times

Regional-based tourism earmarked for southern Myanmar villages

A village in Myeik Archipelago in southern Myanmar.

ELEVEN villages from Myanmar’s southern coastal region of Tanintharyi will conduct regional based tourism enterprises, according to the office of the Department of Hotels and Tourism.
The project, which has currently been submitted to union level government, will be implemented during the current 2016-17 fiscal year, it is known.
“Regional-based tourism is like a type of foreign investment. But, it must be conducted by local residents as it plays on regional development. It’s to allow for residents to become self-reliant. The Department of Hotels and Tourism will oversea the whole project.” said U Naing Win, director of the Department of Hotels and Tourism for Tanintharyi Region.
Traditional ethnic housing will be built in the eleven villages to accommodate tourists, while programs will be provided on traditional food, handicrafts and ethnic lifestyle and the environment which tourists will be able to study. There will be enterprises run by local residents themselves.
“Youth of the local communities will be required to attend hotel service hospitality trainings, and they need to have attended school up until at least fifth grade.
This initiative will also require guides who can explain the local region in detail. Tourism entrepreneurs will need to work together with local residents.
Any profits made will of course be spilt fifty-fifty between entrepreneurs and those local residents.” continued U Naing Win.
It is known that some of the eleven villages, selected for implementation of the aforementioned project, are located within areas still controlled by ethnic armed groups, while construction of at least four bedrooms will be included within traditional ethnic housing.
It is aimed that the end of this year will see the successful completion of the project of one of the villages which is located in the Dawei district of the region.
The villages that will provide region-based tourism are located in Dawei district: San Hlan, Nyaw Pyin, Metta and Hsinphyutaing; Myeik district: Uyinthaungkan, Donenyaunghmaing, Donekamarkyaung, Dahun; and Kawthaung district: Makyonega, Nyaungwi and Gyalan.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Attempts to save lake ecosystem take shape

Despite being faced with falling water level in summer, Inle lake has attracted local and foreign tourists. Photo: Htay Aung (Mirror)

HIGH temperatures brought about by the El Niño have not impacted Inle Lake as much as expected this summer, though the lake is still facing dropping water levels characteristic of the summer season.
“The current water level is low compared to the days in our childhood, but the water level has not decreased as much as in previous years, I think, due to our dredging of silt and sentiment this year,” said Ma Htway Nyo, who lives near the lake.
The drop in the water level this year affected several villages on the outskirts of the lake, making the lake inaccessible to them.
To reduce the falling water level in Inle Lake this summer, the Irrigation Department has controlled the flow of water from the Lake into the Bilu Creek using two geo-tubes.
The department has also been dredging silt and sediment from the rivers that flow into the lake while carrying out conservation measures for the lake.
The Irrigation Department has refuted rumours that the lake is facing the threat of silting up.
“The main waterways such as the route between Phaung Taw Oo and Nyaung Shwe, and the Alotawpauk Pagoda route are all-weather ways,” an official of the department said.
“Inle Lake looks like a deep frying pan.
There is always water in its centre,” he added.
Meanwhile, ministries have teamed up with UN agencies and foreign countries to step up efforts for the conservation of Inle Lake, while adopting a five-year plan with short-term and long-term components.
Measures are being taken to dredge silt to make waterways in the lake deeper, to conserve the lake’s watershed areas and birds, to reduce noise from the exhausts of boats and to limit the use of fertilisers on islands in the lake.
Following separate meetings between the Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and ambassadors from the Netherlands and Norway and the Country Programme Manager of UN Habitat recently, the ministry announced that it has received technical assistance from UN agencies and the foreign countries in the drafting of plans for the sustainability of the Inle Lake.
Myanmar opened a new chapter in its commitment to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation by launching the country’s first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve at Inle Lake on 4 December.
Inle Lake was designated as Myanmar’s first Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme at the 27th Session of the MAB International Coordinating Council meeting at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in June 2015.
UNESCO has worked closely with Myanmar’s Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MoECAF) to provide technical assistance for the nomination process of Inle Lake in collaboration with the UNDP and with generous funding from the government of Norway under the framework of the Inle Lake Conservation and Rehabilitation Project.
“There are three main factors causing the degradation of Inle Lake: deforestation around the lake, increasing silt and sentiment in the lake and degradation of the water quality of the lake,” said U Ohn Maung, Union Minister for Hotels and Tourism, who was previously well-known for his efforts to conserve the lake. “Strict enforcement of regulations on cutting trees in a 20-mile radius of Inle Lake should be made while revitalising afforestation in those areas. Meanwhile, efforts should be made to prevent the flow of silt and sentiment from the four major rivers into the lake,” he added.—Ko Thet with GNLM

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Thai investments promote tourism in Taninthayi

THAI investments are expected to promote tourism in Taninthayi Region, according to Thai media.
A Thai company called Pongpipat has been building an international standard hotel in Taninthayi with an investment of US$125 million in an effort to capitalize on the promising tourism industry in the region.
The hotel is being built on 50 acres of land and is slated to take five years. Pongpipat has conducted mining operations in the Heinda Mine since 1999.
Investment is now pouring into Taninthayi Region’s tourism industry, mainly on Shidomel Island in Myeik District. Domel Island Development Co, with an investment of $25 million, plans to enter the resort business there. The company has already received approval from the Myanmar Investment Commission.
“Thai investors are keen on investing in Taninthayi Region. Hotels and resorts might develop on the beaches and the islands in Myanmar,” said U Maung Maung Swe, vice chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Federation.
Similar investments will be made by Thai entrepreneurs in hotel businesses in the Myeik archipelago. Thai companies are reported to be seeking approval from the Myanmar Investment Commission.—PPN/Union Daily

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Ngapali Beach in need of infrastructure improvements

“ALTHOUGH Ngapali beach has received an increase in domestic visitors, the growth is slower than in Chaungtha and Ngwe Saung beaches,” a businessman said.
Ngapali is Myanmar’s premier beach destination. Located on the Bay of Bengal in Kyaukphyu Township, Rakhine State, its main feature is an idyllic stretch of white sand and palm tree-lined coast, with a number of resorts spread out beside traditional fishing villages.
The beach is ranked 8th on TripAdvisor’s list of the world’s most beautiful beaches.
Locals say they want the government to improve hotels and service facilities in the area with the aim of attracting international visitors.
“Transportation plays an essential part in tourism development,” a tour operator said, adding that the country needs to focus on infrastructure development and better services.
Myanmar has seen a massive influx of tourism year on year for the last several years.
According to the ministry’s Master Plan (2013-2020), tourist arrivals are estimated to hit 7.49 million by 2020.
There are over 1,000 hotels with nearly 50,000 rooms across the country, according to official figures released by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimated that Myanmar will top the list of tourism development sites in the future.—SM/Union Daily

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Inle Lake faces drought

Waterway linking Inle Lake to villages are especially drying up.

The water levels in waterway near Inle Lake, Nyaung Shwe Township, have rendered 10 villages inaccessible. There has been a steady decline in water levels in Inle Lake which is situated in southern Shan State, with the potential to severely affect more than 300 villages.
“We have no water even for bathing and we buy drinking water for K 500 to 1000 per bucket. Farmers also need a mass water supply for their cultivation,” said Ma Than Aye Myint, a local resident.
The local people have suffered from falling water levels as most of the residents rely on the lake water for cooking and other household tasks.
The water levels are so low that they have reached critical condition as indicated by a water level measure post near the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, said a source. Water levels in the lake have fallen to roughly four feet and in some parts, only one foot of water remains.
Of the 445 households living in Inle Lake, 80 are considered lake dwellers.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

MNA to triple carrying capacity

The national carrier received the first of the Boeing 737-800s in June last year, and the third just a few weeks ago, a spokesperson for GE said.
GE Capital Aviation Services expects to deliver two aircraft a year between 2015 and 2020.
MNA already boasts a fleet larger than the next two largest airlines combined. In addition to the three new Boeing aircraft, MNA runs two ATR72-600 turboprops, two Embraer jets and six other smaller turboprops with between 11 and 16 seats per plane.
This gives it a total carrying capacity of just over 900 seats – of which over half is provided by the three new Boeing 737-800s.
In addition to seven more Boeing aircraft, MNA also has five more ATR72-600s on order, which would take its total carrying capacity to just over 2700, according to information provided by MNA.
The only other Myanmar airline that offers regular international routes is Myanmar Airways International.
That carrier operates four Airbus A320 that give it a total carrying capacity of 720 seats, although it may add more Airbus aircraft to its fleet next year, Aye Mra Tha, MAI’s head of marketing and public relations, said.
The pending Boeing and ATR deliveries would take MNA’s fleet to 25. MNA will use its new aircraft for flights to Chengdu and Shanghai, which are expected to start later this year. MNA already flies to Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.
MNA’s efforts to bolster its fleet are part of a wider revamp of the national carrier, which includes a corporatisation process that will eventually see it operate as a private company.
Although the firm is increasing its international routes the vast majority of its flights are domestic, and its resurgence represents steep competition for other local carriers.
Source : Myanmar Times

Swiss and German Tourists visit Myan Aung Township

Swiss and German Tourists seen upon arrival at Myan Aung. Photo: Win Bo (IPRD)

EIGHTEEN tourists from Switzerland and Germany guided by Ma Yamin May War arrived at the Ayeyawady Jetty in Myan Aung Township, Ayeyawady Region, on 19 March through waterways. The tourists are touring on the RV Thurgau Exotic II River vessel along the Ayeyawady River.
Upon arrival at Myan Aung, the tousrists visited the Nay Chi Bazaar and downtown Myan Aung and took documentary photos of the ancient buildings in the town.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Growing need to conserve Monastery of Yaw Min Gyi U Pho Hlaing

The Brick Monastery donated by Yaw Min Gyi U Pho Hlaing in 1866. Photo: Maung Pyi Thu (Mdy)

THE Yaw Min Gyi Brick Monastery, donated by Yaw Min Gyi U Pho Hlaing in 1866 (1228 Myanmar Era) requires conservation because of destruction caused by rain and wind.
The monastery was burned down losing all its original wooden infrastructure and concrete rinceaux, there remained only the brick structure during the World War II as the Allied bombed in Mandalay in March 1945.
The wooden beams and floor of the monastery were replaced with concrete beams and concrete floor, and roofed with zinc sheets under the supervision of the Department of Archaeology under the Ministry of Culture in December 1998. Myanmar artists created a rinceaux to match the original. In 2013, according to the instructions of the Ministry of Culture, the Department of Archaeology carried out the work of installing a ceiling, a drainage around the monastery, the installation of doors and windows, Myanmar concrete rinceaux and wiring. The Ministry of Culture has designated the Yaw Min Gyi Brick Monastery as an ancient heritage building.  The Monastery should be renovated and have a garden to attract tourists from abroad and home to come and visit, said a tourist guide.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

U Pein bridge repair set to begin soon

 

RENOVATIONS of the U Pein Bridge, a more than 160-year-old tourist a
The bridge will be renovated by the Myanmar Teak Wood Company under the supervision of the Mandalay Region government and the Department of Archaeology and National Museum, said Director U Nyo Myint Tun of the department.
“Renovation works will be carried out in accord with suggestions by historians, experts and local people,” added the director.
The renovation works include replacement of decayed teak pillars with new ones and installing wooden bridge guardrail in original form and minor repairs.  The bridge with 1,086 pillars is 3,967 feet long.
According to sources, the regional government spent K13.4 million on bridge repairs over the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
ttraction in Mandalay, will begin soon, said an official from the Department of Archaeology and National Museum.
Aung Thant Khaing
Source : Global New Light of Myanmar