Myanmar representatives led by Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relation U Thaung Tun and Singapore representatives by Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing signed the agreement on behalf of their countries.

The bilateral agreement is expected to set the foundation for more regular and stable investments by Singapore.

U Min Zaw Oo, the Director of Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) said the agreement took more than four years to finalise.

“Now that we have inked this agreement, we believe Myanmar will attract more investments from Singapore and this will give other countries more confidence to invest with us as well,” he said.

During the meeting, Myanmar highlighted the need for closer cooperation in the promotion of trade and investment as well as possible areas for collaboration. These include industrial parks, technical cooperation, assistance in small and medium enterprise development, urban development, finance and banking, legal services and intellectual property, aviation and food and agriculture.

U Thaung Tun, who is also chair of the Myanmar Investment Commission, also attended the Singapore Summit 2019 held on September 20 and 21 as part of efforts to boost economic ties between the two countries.

Among the 49 countries investing in Myanmar, Singapore is the biggest investor for Myanmar, having channeled over US$22 billion into 312 permitted investment projects in Myanmar since 1988.

That makes up almost a third of total foreign direct investments in Myanmar. According to official data, the bulk of investments from Singapore have been channeled into transport and communications and real estate. The other main industries which have received capital from Singapore include oil and gas, manufacturing and hotels and tourism.

Before the treaty with Singapore, Myanmar signed bilateral agreements on the promotion and protection of investments with 12 other countries – Philippines, Vietnam, China, Laos, Kuwait, Thailand, India, Japan, Indonesia, United States of America, Republic of Korea, and Israel.

Myanmar is now in the process of discussing a similar arrangement with Hong Kong.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/myanmar-and-singapore-sign-treaty-promoting-investments.html