New-look Myanmar Investment Commission unveiled
The National League for Democracy (NLD) government has released 11 names to sit on the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), potentially ending a roadblock on investment approvals.
Without the MIC, large-scale energy and electricity investments could not get approval, meaning the MIC's reformation is a long-awaited step.
The previous body had been dissolved under the Union Solidarity and Development Party government in late March ahead of the NLD taking office. The committee is crucial for approving large-scale foreign and domestic investment.
The new commission will be chaired by Planning and Finance Minister U Kyaw Win, while Commerce Minister U Than Myint will be vice president, local press reported on 9 June.
U Aung Naing Oo, the very visible committee secretary under the previous government, will continue in the same role.
All eleven members are either current or retired government staff except for U Aye Lwin, who is a joint general secretary of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The MIC usually meets several times a month to approve projects. However, applications have been piling up in the two and a half months since the last committee was dissolved, with a report in the Myanmar Times claiming that over 100 now await appraisal.
Xinhua claimed that most are for garment manufacturing and fishery product processing facilities.
U Aung Naing Oo previously said the policies and rules on investment applications are to be unchanged under the new government.
The MIC may eventually become independent, under the terms of the Myanmar Investment Law, though for now it answers directly to the President’s Office. The Minister at the President’s Office is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Myanmar Investment Law is still in draft format, though is intended to combine together two separate laws covering foreign and local investment in the country.
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