ACN Newswire
Read More

Myanmar Announces Direct Border Trade Currency Settlement with Thailand; Plans Similar Non-Dollar Convertibility with India in Near Future

indie
5 minutes

NAY PYI TAW, MM, Mar 15, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The Myanmar Government has agreed to accept the Thai baht as an official currency for settling border trade starting this month. Thailand is the second country after China to permit its national currency to be exchangeable with the Myanmar kyat for border trade activities.Myanmar's Minister of Information (MOI) Mr Maung Maung Ohn and Minister of Investments and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) Mr Aung Naing Oo said in a joint statement today that the kyat-baht initiative is a significant development as Thailand is Myanmar's second largest trading partner after China. The Myanmar Government intends to initiate similar currency convertibility for the Indian rupee for trade along the border it shares with India.Myanmar and China commenced kyat-renminbi settlement for border trades in January 2022. The increasing use of non-US dollar direct currency settlement for border trade underscores the strong bilateral relations that Myanmar enjoys with its neighbours.The kyat-baht settlement arrangement was endorsed by an official notification and guidelines issued by the Central Bank earlier this month. All settlements will b...

ACN Newswire
Read More

Myanmar Government Looks to Early Resumption of Development & Infrastructure Projects with China, Its Close Neighbour and Main Trading Partner

indie
6 minutes

NAY PYI TAW, MM, Dec 22, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The Myanmar Government looks forward to re-start development projects and accelerate bilateral economic and technical cooperation with the People's Republic China (PRC), its largest trading following disruptions caused by the pandemic and recent social unrest.The Ministry of Information (MOI) and Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) said in a joint statement that Myanmar enjoys a special 'paukphaw' or kinship with its close neighbour and has received substantial economic and technical support from the PRC over 71 years of bilateral ties.Having achieved national stability in recent months, and with the health situation stabilizing after receiving substantial vaccines from the PRC, a major priority for Myanmar is to implement projects involving PRC development assistance, amounting to 3.8 billion renminbi (RMB).Myanmar's State Administration Council (SAC) has reviewed an original list of 97 projects that were proposed by the previous government in late 2020 in response to the PRC's offer of 4.0 billion RMB in development assistance to Myanmar. The offer was announced during President Xi Jinpin...

ACN Newswire
Read More

Myanmar Government Prioritizes Economic Recovery as Pandemic Infections Decline Amid Return of National Stability Ahead of Preparations for Multi-Party National Elections

indie
7 minutes

Nay Pyi Taw, Dec 7, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The Myanmar Government said today that it has largely restored national stability after recent civil unrest and is now focused on increasing vaccination rates to reduce COVID-19 infections and attracting local and foreign investments to jump-start economic growth and job creation.The Ministry of Information (MOI) and Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) said in a joint statement that with the restoration of stability, economic recovery was now a top priority as the Government prepares for multi-party elections to be held by August 2023.The Union Election Commission has reviewed weaknesses, fraud and malpractices in the 8 November 2020 elections. It has held 3 consultations with political parties between February and November 2021. A fourth consultation will be held this month to discuss the Proportional Representation System. To update data and to prevent voter fraud, joint inspection teams led by the Commission have started audit of membership, funding, premises, business dealings and election expenses of all political parties. Preparations for elections are taking place amid a significant rise ...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Myanmar Government to Re-Open Land Borders, Resume International Travel in Early 2022 After Achieving Vaccination Targets Amid Clear Signs of Economic Recovery

pandora
5 minutes

Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, Nov 16, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – The Myanmar Government announced today it will reopen land border crossings with China and Thailand next month ahead of a planned resumption of international air travel by the end of the first quarter of 2022, as vaccination rates have improved significantly amid clear signs of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of Information Mr Maung Maung Ohn said travel restrictions will be eased by January 2022 at Muse which borders Ruili city in China’s Yunnan Province and at the three Myanmar towns of Tachileik, Kawthaung and Htee Kee which border Thailand. Travel at border crossings with Laos, India and Bangladesh are currently permitted due to lower incidences of infection. Status of COVID-19 Infection Rates, Deaths & Vaccinations Between the first case of pandemic infection in the country on 23 March 2020 to 12 November 2021 (20 months) Myanmar’s Ministry of Health has recorded a total of 511,717 cases of infection and 18,899 deaths due to COVID-19. In the week (to 12 November) a daily average of 919 new confirmed cases were detected with a positivity rate of 4.2% while 20 deaths were recorded – a fatality rate ...

ACN Newswire
Read More

Myanmar Government to Re-Open Schools, Revive Economy and Support Currency to Overcome ‘Triple Crisis Situations’ of Pandemic, Economic Slowdown and Issues of National Stability

indie
6 minutes

Nay Pyi Taw, Oct 19, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The Myanmar Government announced today it would reopen schools from next month and take urgent measures to support its currency and accelerate economic recovery so as to restore national stability quickly amid an unprecedented 'triple crisis' situation in the country.Myanmar is facing crises of pandemic infection, economic slowdown and national stability at the same time, a situation not shared by any other country in ASEAN or even Asia. Hence, even as the country pursues recovery, it looks forward to support from the international community, the Government said in a statement.COVID-19 UpdateBased on latest data from the Ministry of Health, as of 16 October 2021 Myanmar had recorded 486,851 COVID-19 cases and 18,329 fatalities deaths (most of whom were aged 45 to 75) since the first confirmed case of infection on 23 March 2020. Currently, the daily average COVID-19 positivity rate in Myanmar is 7.7%, which is lower than that of some ASEAN countries.The first wave of the pandemic started in March 2020 and the second in August 2020. In the third wave that started in May 2021, a high incidence of the Delta variant has been...

SeaPRwire

Plunging currency, dollar drought worsen Myanmar economic crisis

elean
4 minutes

YANGON (BLOOMBERG) - Myanmar is battling a plunging local currency amid an unprecedented United States dollar shortage, driving up the cost of imports and worsening the economy's struggle with dual challenges of the pandemic and post-coup financial isolation. The kyat has tumbled about 50 per cent since the military seized power in February which triggered a freeze on parts of Myanmar's foreign reserves held in the US and suspension of multilateral aids - both key sources of foreign currency supplies. Restrictions on cash withdrawals have fuelled worries about the safety of money in banks, prompting people to seek more widely used currencies such as the US or Singapore dollars or Thai baht, analysts said. The Central Bank of Myanmar's efforts to quell the rush for dollars, including stepping up foreign currency supplies and ordering exporters to repatriate earnings within 30 days, have failed to stem the kyat's slide. The currency may plunge further to 2,400 to a US dollar by the end of this year and 3,200 by the end of next year, according to Mr Jason Yek, senior Asia country risk analyst at Fitch Solutions. The currency sell-off is the latest crisis to hit the country that is sti...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Travellers from Myanmar barred from entering Singapore from July 15

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - Travellers from Myanmar will not be allowed to enter Singapore from Thursday (July 15) given a rise in Covid-19 cases there, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (July 14). From 11.59pm on Thursday, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with a travel history to Myanmar - including transit - in the past 21 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Singapore. "This will also apply to all those who had obtained prior approval for entry into Singapore," added MOH. All travellers with recent travel history to Myanmar will also have to take an antigen rapid test (ART) upon arrival. Travellers with recent travel history to Myanmar who have yet to complete their 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) by 11.59pm on Thursday will continue to serve their SHN at dedicated facilities and take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival, said MOH. A self-administered ART has to be taken on days three, seven and 11 of arrival in Singapore. A second PCR test has to be taken on day 14 of arrival. MOH said the multi-ministry task force regularly reviews Singapore's border measures to manage the risk of importation from travellers and onward local transmis...

SeaPRwire
Read More

30 years’ jail for woman who starved and tortured Myanmar maid to death

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - A 41-year-old housewife who starved, tortured and ultimately killed her domestic worker from Myanmar stared blankly into space as she was sentenced to 30 years' jail on Tuesday (June 22). In sentencing Gaiyathiri Murugayan, High Court judge See Kee Oon said: "Words cannot describe the abject cruelty of the accused's appalling conduct." He described the case as "among the worst type of culpable homicide", noting that the victim was made to suffer agonising harm for a long time before she died. The judge said that while the sentence should "signal societal outrage and abhorrence", the fact that Gaiyathiri was suffering from a psychiatric condition that affected her judgment cannot be ignored. He noted that Gaiyathiri had four previous domestic helpers who did not lodge any reports against her and did not appear to be a pathologically violent person. Gaiyathiri had pleaded guilty in February to 28 charges. The most serious was culpable homicide, for which prosecutors had sought the maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The other charges were mostly hurt-related offences involving varying degrees of physical abuse she inflicted on 24-year-old Piang Ngaih Don, who weighed a...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Cop’s wife who starved, tortured Myanmar maid to her death makes legal moves to avoid life imprisonment

aseanpr
7 minutes

SINGAPORE - In a turn of events, a 41-year-old housewife who starved, tortured and ultimately killed her domestic worker from Myanmar has changed lawyers and is making further moves in a bid to avoid life in prison. Gaiyathiri Murugayan, the wife of a policeman, pleaded guilty in February this year to 28 charges, the most serious being culpable homicide, for which prosecutors had sought the maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The other charges were mostly hurt-related offences for physical abuse she inflicted on 24-year-old Piang Ngaih Don, who weighed a mere 24kg when she died from the final assault on July 26, 2016. Gaiyathiri was due to be sentenced on Thursday (April 29) by High Court judge See Kee Oon. However, it emerged during the hearing that she had changed lawyers last month. Justice See noted that Gaiyathiri "appeared to have changed her position about maintaining her plea of guilt" and asked her new lawyer, Mr Joseph Chen, to clarify whether she wanted to retract her plea of guilt. Mr Chen said she wanted to submit a further plea for leniency and that he would be asking the prosecution to consider further reducing the culpable homicide charge. Gaiyathiri's charge had...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Worried for safety of their family and friends in Myanmar

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - Student Susan Pyi, 21, spends every waking hour here worried for the safety of her family in Myanmar. The Singaporean, who was born and raised there, has a seven-year-old brother who lives with their mother and grandmother in Yangon. Ms Pyi lives in Singapore with her father. She said her mother often hears gunshots near their apartment. Ms Pyi is most concerned about her brother, who likes to go onto the balcony, where stray bullets could pose a risk. "I've seen a lot of pictures of kids getting hurt, so I'm really worried about him," she said. To make matters worse, she loses contact with her family on days when the authorities in Myanmar cut off access to the Internet. "I don't know what's happening and I just feel so helpless," she said. Protests, largely led by young people, broke out in several cities in Myanmar after military officials staged a coup on Feb 1 and detained the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, along with many other leaders of the National League for Democracy - Myanmar's elected ruling party. The military crackdown which followed left many dead and injured, and more than 1,000 people were arrested. Amid the ensuing chaos, word spread that...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Keys to fixing political, Rohingya crises lie within Myanmar itself: Vivian Balakrishnan

aseanpr
7 minutes

SINGAPORE - The keys to reconciliation, and the solution to both the political and humanitarian problems roiling Myanmar, lie within the country itself and in the hands of its people, said Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday (March 5). He also called it "the height of national shame for the armed forces of any country to turn its arms against its own people". Civilian protests against a Feb 1 military coup have led to deadly clashes with security forces nationwide, leaving at least 54 killed with over a thousand arrested. "There's a limit to how far external pressure will be brought to bear," said Dr Balakrishnan in Parliament, in response to Mr Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC) who asked what concrete steps Asean could take to address the turmoil in Myanmar, after its military - the Tatmadaw - overthrew and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Dr Balakrishnan said: "It doesn't mean we approve of what they have done and how they do it. And we are clear in our expressions of disapproval. But let us also be realistic. "Ultimately, only the people of Myanmar, including the armed forces, the Ta...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Woman convicted of abusing Myanmar maid, who was left with bruises and hearing loss

aseanpr
1 minute

SINGAPORE - A 51-year-old woman was on Friday (Feb 26) convicted of two counts of abusing her maid, in attacks which left the Myanmar national with bruises and the loss of hearing in her left ear. Both incidents occurred in 2017 at Gayathri Iyer's home at the Pebble Bay condominium in Tanjong Rhu Road. District Judge Tan Jen Tse convicted the Singaporean of two maid abuse charges after a trial. She was, however, acquitted of two other counts of maid abuse as the judge found that the maid's evidence in these instances had not been "unusually convincing". Gayathri is represented by lawyer Amarjit Singh Sidhu and her bail was set at $15,000. She will be sentenced on March 17. For each count of assaulting a maid, an offender can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $7,500. More on this topic Related Story Fatal abuse of Myanmar maid: Govt to review 3 areas to ensure it doesn't happen again Related Story Courts & Crime: Read more stories Correction note: An earlier version of this story had the wrong picture of the offender. This has been removed. We are sorry for the error.

SeaPRwire
Read More

Govt to review 3 areas to ensure abuse of Myanmar maid who died doesn’t happen again

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - The abuse suffered by Myanmar domestic helper Piang Ngaih Don must never happen again, and the Government is reviewing three key areas to ensure this. Speaking to the media at a virtual doorstop on Thursday (Feb 25), Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said the three areas are safeguards against abusive employers, the reporting system for doctors, and the involvement of community and partner organisations. "Let me be absolutely clear. There is no place for abuse against foreign domestic workers in Singapore. There is simply no place for it," she stressed. Mrs Teo, who is also Second Minister for Home Affairs, said: "The Singapore Government takes very seriously the safety of all of our foreign domestic workers who are here." She noted that while there are already safeguards in place, Singapore, as a society, must do better. "We appreciate the many foreign domestic workers who have come to Singapore to help us look after our families," she said. "We recognise the sacrifices that they have made and we are determined to put an end to any form of abuse towards them and to ensure their safety." Ms Piang was 24 when she died on July 26, 2016. She weighed just 24kg then, having lo...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Three men investigated by police for allegedly protesting outside Myanmar Embassy in S’pore

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - Three men are being investigated for purportedly participating in a public assembly without a permit outside the Embassy of Myanmar in Singapore, the police said on Sunday (Feb 14). Two of the men are Japanese nationals, aged 48 and 61, and the third is a 49-year-old Indonesian. The police were alerted at 3.45pm on Feb 10 to three men allegedly protesting outside the embassy to demonstrate "their support for the people of Myanmar". Two placards, three mobile phones and a letter were seized. The police reminded the public that "organising or participating in a public assembly without a police permit in Singapore is illegal and constitutes an offence under the Public Order Act". Organisers of illegal assemblies face fines of up to $5,000 and participants can be fined up to $3,000. "The police will not grant any permit for assemblies that advocate political causes of other countries," it said. "Foreigners visiting or living in Singapore should abide by our laws." On Feb 5, the police had warned against holding protests in Singapore related to the ongoing political events in Myanmar, saying: "The police are aware of online posts by Myanmar nationals working or residing in S...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Razer co-founder and director Lim Kaling pulls out of Myanmar joint venture

elean
3 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Razer co-founder and director Lim Kaling is selling his one third stake in a joint venture that owns RMH Singapore Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based tobacco company which in turn owns 49 per cent of Virginia Tobacco Co Ltd (VTCL), the military-linked market leader in Myanmar's tobacco market. In a statement released on Tuesday (Feb 9), Mr Lim said he had been closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar and recent events there caused him "grave concern". "As a result, I have decided to exit my investment in Myanmar, disposing of my one-third stake in the joint venture that owns RMH Singapore Pte Ltd. "I am therefore exploring options for the responsible disposal of this stake," he said, adding that it is his only remaining investment in Myanmar, initiated nearly three decades ago under a very different circumstance. Back in 1993, Mr Lim started Distinction Investments to address an economic opportunity in Myanmar as the country was opening up to the rest of the world. "Through this venture, we had hoped to help the country spur economic growth, create jobs and raise standards of living," he said. Distinction Investments has three shareholders: Myanmar citiz...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Foodpanda moves ahead with Myanmar expansion despite uncertainty from coup

elean
2 minutes

BANGKOK (REUTERS) - Delivery Hero's Asia-focused delivery platform Foodpanda on Thursday (Feb 4) said it would stick with plans to expand its grocery offerings in Myanmar, despite the uncertainty from a military coup this week. "Overall, in 2021, we definitely have it our plans to launch in these four markets," its new verticals director Abhishek Sahay told reporters, referring the company's plan to expand its grocery delivery service, Pandamart, in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Japan. Mr Sahay said the firm was monitoring the situation in Myanmar and that it would assess that before committing to a number of stores. Pandamart operates small warehouses placed at key locations so that groceries could be delivered in under half an hour, he said. Foodpanda, best-known for its food delivery business, launched Pandamart in 2019 in Singapore. As of January, it has a presence in 40 cities and eight markets in Asia including Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh. Among its new markets, except Japan, Foodpanda already delivers food and has an exisiting customer base, which would help spur growth for its new service, he said. More on this topic Related Story Foodpanda Singapore expands into grocer...

SeaPRwire
Read More

Company Briefs : KrisEnergy

elean
2 minutes

KrisEnergy Upstream oil and gas firm KrisEnergy has extended the maturity of its revolving credit facility (RCF) from DBS by an initial six months to June 30. The facility may be further extended to June 30, 2024, while certain covenants will be tightened, when KrisEnergy completes necessary parts of its financial restructuring. About US$185 million (S$244.6 million) in outstanding principal is owed by KrisEnergy (Asia) under the RCF as at yesterday. Keppel Corp holds the key economic risk in the RCF, as the conglomerate has an indirect interest in the facility through a bilateral contract with DBS. THE BUSINESS TIMES Credit Bureau Asia Credit Bureau Asia (CBA) launched Myanmar's first credit bureau on Wednesday. The Myanmar bureau is a 60:40 joint venture between MB Investment, a company formed by members of the Myanmar Banks Association, and CBA's wholly owned subsidiary NSP Asia Investment Holding. The new Myanmar Credit Bureau will support financial institutions and consumers in Myanmar by implementing a credit reporting system to promote responsible lending, CBA said. THE BUSINESS TIMES Amazon Amazon.com said on Wednesday that it would acquire podcast start-up Wondery, aiming ...