9:40:00 AM
Myanmar Trade Office (Taipei)
 |
Myanmar’s
least developed states and regions have seen no new investment
proposals despite tax incentives having been released this year in a
bid to attract foreign and local businesses in those areas.
The country’s poorest areas have seen little of the billions of US dollars of foreign investment flowing into the country in recent years because of their lack of infrastructure, high logistics costs and ongoing ethnic conflicts.
“No proposal for other regions and states has been received by the office. I think they [investors] care about production and logistical costs more than tax exemptions,” U San Myint, Deputy Director General of the Directorate of Industry and Company Administration (DICA), said.
“Yangon is the main business hub of the country with cheaper logistics costs, so most proposals go to Yangon.”
In February the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), the body that approves investment applications in Myanmar, announced that companies who choose to invest in townships in the country’s least developed states and regions, known as Zone 1, would be eligible for 7-year tax breaks.
Every township in Chin and Rakhine states, considered the two least developed in the country, some townships in Kachin and Dawei, site of the Special Economic Zone, is included under Zone 1.The tax breaks come as part of Myanmar’s new Investment Law which was designed to reduce contact with ministries and streamline the application process. The law granted state and regional branches of the MIC power to approve selected investment proposals under $5 million.
“We are planning to open branches of the MIC in Kachin State and next there will be offices be in Chin and Rakhine states. MIC’s subsidiary committees for regions and states will be formed soon. Members of state and regional offices will need to be trained in MIC rules and regulations,” said U Than Aung Kyaw, Deputy Director General of DICA.
Source>MyanmarBusinessToday
The country’s poorest areas have seen little of the billions of US dollars of foreign investment flowing into the country in recent years because of their lack of infrastructure, high logistics costs and ongoing ethnic conflicts.
“No proposal for other regions and states has been received by the office. I think they [investors] care about production and logistical costs more than tax exemptions,” U San Myint, Deputy Director General of the Directorate of Industry and Company Administration (DICA), said.
“Yangon is the main business hub of the country with cheaper logistics costs, so most proposals go to Yangon.”
In February the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), the body that approves investment applications in Myanmar, announced that companies who choose to invest in townships in the country’s least developed states and regions, known as Zone 1, would be eligible for 7-year tax breaks.
Every township in Chin and Rakhine states, considered the two least developed in the country, some townships in Kachin and Dawei, site of the Special Economic Zone, is included under Zone 1.The tax breaks come as part of Myanmar’s new Investment Law which was designed to reduce contact with ministries and streamline the application process. The law granted state and regional branches of the MIC power to approve selected investment proposals under $5 million.
“We are planning to open branches of the MIC in Kachin State and next there will be offices be in Chin and Rakhine states. MIC’s subsidiary committees for regions and states will be formed soon. Members of state and regional offices will need to be trained in MIC rules and regulations,” said U Than Aung Kyaw, Deputy Director General of DICA.
Source>MyanmarBusinessToday
