Myanmar

After several years of rapid expansion and double-digit credit growth, Myanmar’s banking sector underwent several necessary reforms in 2017 and 2018, as the Central Bank of Myanmar moved to introduce new prudential regulations and reduce overdraft lending. Although foreign banks remain prohibited from participating in retail activities, a spate of recent directives have made promising strides...

Benefitting from a large population, an ideal geographic position and abundant natural resources, Myanmar’s trade and investment volumes hold enormous potential for future expansion, although the country is facing both domestic and external challenges. Foreign direct investment inflows soared from 2011, upon the country’s economic liberalisation and democratic transition, although they have...

Myanmar’s macroeconomic performance improved in 2018 as recovery in the agriculture sector, rising oil and gas prices, and substantial growth in several manufacturing segments helped the country regain positive momentum. Efforts to encourage private sector activity and liberalise the economy have been extensively detailed in a new long-term economic development agenda, and recent legislative...

Considered to be the last frontier market in South-east Asia, Myanmar remains focused on creating the required conditions to attract and facilitate foreign investment, in turn spurring economic development. Following decades of military rule that maintained a socialist and centrally planned economic model, cutting off access to the world’s financial markets and main trading routes, Myanmar’s...

This chapter gives an overview of Myanmar’s legal system, examining recent developments such as the New Companies Law. This section also outlines investment rules and incentives for foreign input, as well as a new banking regulation enabling the formation of a credit bureau. It also contains a legal framework viewpoint from Cheah Swee Gim, Director, Kelvin Chia Yangon.