Myanmar Times

• Business

• Handmade brick companies forced out of business

  Handmade brick companies are going out of business, starved of skilled labour and turfed out of expensive premises, industry experts say. Once popular with builders, handmade bricks are increasingly being…

• Yangon govt targets ‘failing’ power firms

  

  Regional officials say they will investigate performance at private electricity providers and if necessary, cancel contracts signed by the former government, as frequent power outages continue across Yangon and frustrations…

• DICA halves registration fees for private companies

  The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration has announced wide-ranging changes to company registration fees that will make life easier for start-ups while raising the bar for public companies.

• Emergency measures passed to free up trade at Yangon ports

  

  Customs teams at Yangon’s ports will now operate 24 hours a day, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry said yesterday, as the industry body works…

• Betel leaf prices double after drought, storms

  Dramatic changes in weather have sent the price of betel leaf soaring by almost three times since April according to wholesale sellers who have been forced to cut back their…

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• Commerce minister talks food security, sanctions and smuggling
• Death of rental book stores as readers switch to smartphones

• Property News

• Wholesale vegetable market on track for 2018

  

  Fruit , vegetable and flower sellers at Yangon’s Danyingone Market, Insein township, are awaiting the country’s first international-standard wholesale centre with a mixture of hope and fear.

• Ministry plans housing for under K10m

  The construction ministry has drafted an urgent plan to build 8000 low-cost housing units in Yangon to be sold for less than K10 million each to the city’s low-income residents.

• China to refurbish National Theatre and Thuwunna Stadium

  

  China has again come forward with aid to refurbish two gifts it gave to Myanmar more than 30 years ago – the National Theatre and Thuwunna Stadium, both built in…

• Junction City Phase 1 due for early 2017

  

  Shwe Taung Group yesterday announced that the first phase of its US$300 million project in downtown Yangon, a 23-storey office block called Junction City Tower, is on track to open…

• High-rise construction stopped for review

  The new Yangon Region government is reviewing all high-rise building projects nine floors or higher to determine which will go ahead – even those already under construction.

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• Construction ministry seeks housing solution
• Myanmar buyers get second bite at Malaysian Paradiso

• Technology

• Ooredoo first to go 4G

  

  Ooredoo has begun its fourth-generation rollout in Myanmar’s main cities: Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.

• IFC proposes $60m telco towers deal

  The  International Finance Corporation is considering a major investment in Myanmar telecoms infrastructure firm Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT), according to documents obtained by The Myanmar Times. 

• Ooredoo to roll out next-gen internet service

  

  Ooredoo Myanmar announced yesterday that it will launch 4G internet services this month – making it the first mobile operator in the market to move up from a 3G network.

• Ooredoo net profit in the black

  Ooredoo Myanmar has made its first net profit and added 1.1 million subscribers to its user base over the January-to-March period, according to first-quarter financial results for its Qatari parent.

• Telenor reaches 15.5m users

  Telenor Myanmar has added 1.8 million customers over the past three months, bringing its base to 15.5 million subscribers.

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• Viettel plans investment, 3G launch
• MPT keeps lid on police requests for customer data

• Travel

• Bagan hoteliers fight back

  

  “Limbo hoteliers in Bagan want justice, they say. They are complaining that shifts in the application of the law are preventing them from making a living. At a “forum for…

• Oman may be the anti-Dubai – and that’s a good thing

  

  Although the Persian Gulf country is found just south of the famed emirate, it boasts no glittering skyscrapers. Instead, low whitewashed buildings skirt the coast of Oman's capital, Muscat, its…

• B&Bs open up Thandaunggyi to foreign visitors

  

  For more than 100 years, Naw Hsergay’s family lived in the same colonial-style home, passing it down from generation to generation. And then last year they decided to throw open…

• Ministry cracks down on illegal tourist guides

  Unlicensed tour guides could end up behind bars for three years, the government has warned as it launches a crackdown against them. The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism says the…

• Community-based tourism takes on 100-day challenge

  

  Tourism Minister U Ohn Maung has launched a 100-day program to boost community-based tourism in six destinations. The aim is to relieve pressure on overcrowded sites like Mandalay, Bagan and…

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