As foreign investors get ready to strike it rich once sanctions are lifted, Rangoon’s poorest fear they will lose out again

In the single street of Rangoon’s crowded Bothun San neighbourhood, attention is focused on the daily afternoon lottery. Hugely popular among the near-destitute labourers and their families, and played between neighbours on the flattened earth, it offers the prospect of a square meal rather than immediate life-changing wealth. (more…)

Four privately-owned Burmese banks will next month open exchange services in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in a bid to ease problems with remittances from Burmese migrant workers abroad and increase connectivity with ASEAN economies. (more…)

Burma’s Minister of Finance and Revenue, U Hla Tun, formally presented the government’s budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year (FY) to Parliament on Tuesday. The budget reportedly allocates an increased percentage of spending to health and education and a decrease in percentage spending to the military.

U Hla Tun visited Parliament on Tuesday and presented each MP with a copy of the FY 2012-13 budget for all of the government’s 34 ministries, as well as for “national projects.” (more…)

Singapore — Myanmar Monday signed an agreement with Singapore seeking the financial centre’s help as the country emerges from political and economic isolation after decades of military rule. (more…)

Bangkok – Myanmar saw a 26-per-cent jump in international arrivals last year and is facing a hotel room shortage in 2012 if business continues to boom, industry officials said Monday. (more…)

Davos, Switzerland — Myanmar’s government said Saturday it planned to offer eight-year tax exemptions to foreign investors as Western companies “rushed” to build ties with the one-time international pariah. (more…)

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – Myanmar will keep natural gas from new projects beyond 2013 for domestic consumption, a shift of policy aimed at powering its development, the country’s energy minister said on Friday. (more…)

Yangon – Property agent Kyaw Saw leafs through a thick pile of real-estate listings in Myanmar’s faded commercial capital, Yangon.
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Jakarta – Myanmar has agreed to sell up to 200,000 tons of rice a year to Indonesia under an agreement recently signed by the two parties to take effect in February, according to an industry association. (more…)

Burmese soldiers have been withdrawn from conflict zones in Kachin state as both sides push for ceasefire talks, but reports from nearby Shan state suggest extra battalions have been deployed to guard the lucrative China-backed Shwe pipeline. (more…)

Yangon – Myanmar must liberalise its foreign exchange controls or it will struggle to carry through economic reforms, one of the country’s central bank directors has warned. (more…)

Bangkok – Key advocates for Burmese political prisoners are calling for the international community to keep economic and trade sanctions in place until Burma’s government releases all political prisoners, including those detained in ethnic areas. United Nations agencies in Burma say an easing of sanctions is crucial to allow funds to support poverty alleviation programs in the country. (more…)

More than 1,500 Burmese troops are currently on their way to reinforce government positions in northern Shan state, as the Burmese military continues an offensive against the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) Eighth Battalion, according to KIA sources in the area. (more…)

Washington — The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday published its analysis of Myanmar for the first time since 1999, applauding recent reforms but stressing the need to move further to stabilize the economy. (more…)

DAVOS, Switzerand – Travelers hoping to glimpse the golden pagoda of Rangoon or hear the “tinkly temple-bells” of Kipling’s Road to Mandalay may soon be able to book into a Westin or a Marriott, thanks to Myanmar’s re-emergence from political isolation. (more…)

Environmental activists in Burma have sought to capitalise on a recent decision by the government to suspend a massive coal-fired power plant in the country’s south by demanding a moratorium on all existing and planned coal projects. (more…)

Tokyo – Mizuho Corporate Bank said Wednesday it will set up an office in Yangon in Myanmar, possibly in March, to help Japanese corporate clients set up business bases in the country. (more…)

Yangon – Business is booming at the Golden Sea employment agency in downtown Yangon, but that doesn’t mean Myanmar’s long-stagnant economy is improving. Quite the opposite. (more…)

Norway’s foreign minister will head to Burma soon to continue to push for reform in the country, and says the changing landscape there could turn looming Norwegian investment into a constructive force that can integrate Burma into the global economy. (more…)

Pakistan’s president has called for stronger trade ties with Burma, while on a visit to the Southeast Asian country. (more…)