YANGON – Myanmar will allow the opening of bank accounts in Singapore dollars in some state-run banks, Voice Weekly reported last week.

Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) are the state-operated banks authorised to introduce the new services, beginning later this month.

This could facilitate increased trade between Myanmar and Singapore as well as creating more financial and economic investment between the two countries.

The Myanmar financial authorities’ approval of Singapore dollar accounts follows the introduction of similar accounts, in US dollars and euros.

Since the adoption of a market-oriented economic system in 1988, private entrepreneurs in Myanmar have been allowed to freely engage in foreign trade and make investments as well as open foreign currency accounts in state-owned foreign exchange banks like the MFTB and the MICB.

The MFTB generally handles foreign currency transactions, while the MICB deals more with foreign investment in the country.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is transforming a public bank – the Myanmar Citizen Bank into an export-import bank to assist exporters and importers in the country carry out their international trading activities.

Myanmar’s commerce authorities have urged the country’s 10,000 registered private trading companies to expand operations and boost foreign trade.

According to official statistics, Myanmar’s foreign trade hit nearly US$8 billion in the fiscal year 2006-07, according to figures of the Ministry of Commerce.

The $7.92 billion foreign trade volume was a new record high for the country.
The latest statistics reveal that in the first five months of 2007-08, Myanmar’s foreign trade reached $4.11 billion, of which exports stood at $2.886 billion while import totalled $1.224 billion.

– Xinhua