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
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Friday, July 22, 2016
Hotels help lacquer ware industry in Bagan
Women work on lacquer wares at an industry in Bagan. Photo: Aye Min Soe
Women work on lacquer wares at an industry in Bagan. Photo: Aye Min SoeA 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
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
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
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
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
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
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
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 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
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