The Myanmar Government said today it hasapproved USD 3.82 billion of foreign investments and USD 651millionequivalent(1) in domestic investments in first year since the State AdministrationCouncil (SAC) took office. The investment commitments underscore confidence inthe country’s economic potential amid a return to national stability and efforts toincrease vaccination rates to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.The Ministry of Information (MOI) and the Ministry of Investment and ForeignEconomic Relations (MIFER) released the latest investment figures for the countryfor the period between 1 February 2021 – when a Proclamation was issued – and20 January 2022.

The MOI and MIFER said among the 50 domestic (citizens’) investments approved in the past year, seven were for projects in the services sector with investment value of USD 427.34 million equivalent(1) and 29 were for manufacturing projects with investment value of USD 74.58 million equivalent(1). The mining, power and construction sectors also attracted sizeable citizens’ investments during this period.

Foreign investments approved in the past year included a USD 2.5 billion project to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant, the two Ministers said.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC), apart from being the largest trading partner of Myanmar, is the largest foreign investor in the country. Among the non-PRC foreign investments approved in the past year were one from Japan (USD 516.43 million), four from Singapore (totaling USD 442.20 million), two from Thailand (totaling USD 75.50 million) five from South Korea (totaling USD 66.17 million) and seven from Hong Kong (totaling USD 60.09 million).

The Government estimates that the foreign investments over the past year led to the creation of 25,383 new jobs while domestic investments added a further 11,879 new jobs, or a total of 37,262 jobs. 

Myanmar Government is accelerating efforts to improve trade flows with and investments from countries such as Russia that, until recently, have not been among its leading economic partners. Prior to the pandemic, which curtailed business travel and activities, Myanmar-Russia bilateral trade had increased 30% in FY2019-2020 (November to October) compared to the year earlier.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic Myanmar and Russia are actively formulating a Bilateral Strategy for Development of Economic Cooperation. The latter has already led to a first virtual business matching session attended by dozens of business leaders from both countries last September. A second such virtual session will be held on 31 January 2022.

The two countries, which signed an Inter-Governmental Joint Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation in August 2014, plan to hold its third Joint Commission meeting, physically, in Nay Pyi Taw in the near future.

Russian corporations have invested USD 94 million in Myanmar, mostly in the oil and gas sector, and the country currently ranks 22nd out of 52 foreign investors. Myanmar Government will support the extension of Russian investment interest to sectors such as mineral processing, solar energy, railway and ICT, aviation, automobiles and tourism.