SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand—Daw Zin Mar was a housewife in Bago Region when she saw an advertisement for a job at Thai Union Group, a global seafood supplier and the world’s biggest producer of tuna. The 44-year-old paid a local recruitment agency about 4,300 Thai baht (212,750 kyats, or US$140)—less than half the sum that most […]
Myanmar Investments To Focus On Existing Investments Given Climate
Myanmar Investments International Ltd on Friday said it is unlikely to consider any new investments given the uncertain situation in Myanmar. Myanmar Investments, which focuses on investment within the country, has opted to develop its existing investments rather than pursue new ones. The company switched to a leaner approach to investing in its previous year, […]
Amnesty for Reuters reporters seen easing EU trade tensions
The release of two Reuters reporters and some 20 other political prisoners may help ease tensions with the EU but the government will need to do more to maintain Myanmar’s trade privileges, according to business leaders in Yangon. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, jailed for more than 500 days, were freed on May 7 […]
Govt to resume sending maids to Singapore, three other areas
The Labour Ministry has lifted the ban on domestic help travelling to work in Singapore and three other places, an employment agency association said on Thursday. U Peter Nyunt Maung, president of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation, said the employment of Myanmar maids in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau would be strictly regulated. […]
A Conversation With US Ambassador Scot Marciel
On March 8, The Irrawaddy’s editorial team invited US Ambassador Scot Marciel to our office in Yangon to participate in a conversation on a range of issues, particularly the many challenges Myanmar is facing. The ambassador offered his frank views in response to questions from senior editors. Here are excerpts from the interview: The Irrawaddy: […]
Trade sanctions by EU, US unlikely: analysts
Analysts are not expecting the European Union or the US to revoke Myanmar’s tariff-free access to their markets over the coming quarters. Following a United Nations report implicating the Tatmadaw in human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the states of Rakhine, Kachin and Shan in September last year, the EU announced a month later […]
‘Overreacting to failure’: Facebook’s new Myanmar strategy baffles local activists
Facebook banned four ethnic armed Myanmar-based groups from its site this week, in its latest effort to reckon with its role in the violence in that nation. But the tech giant’s decision is drawing criticism from local civil society and human rights groups who warn that the move appears ill-considered and inconsistent with international law. […]
Cambodia Businesses, Unions Ask EU Not to Impose Trade Sanctions
PHNOM PENH—Cambodian businesses and unions urged the European Union on Monday to not withdraw trade preferences from Cambodia over human rights concerns, saying such a decision would pose serious economic damage and harm millions of workers and their families. The EU warned last year that it would strip Cambodia of its “Everything but Arms” (EBA) […]