Apparel firms in Laos are facing several problems ranging from shortage of skilled labour to survival, according to the Association of the Lao Garment Industry. Customers want quality and the manufacturers have little power to bargain the buying prices as their costs rise, association president Xaybandith Rasphone told its eighth general assembly last month. Shortage […]
Japanese fund vocational skills institute
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the government to establish and fund the Japan-Myanmar Aung San Vocational Training Institute. Under the contract, which was signed on Tuesday in Yangon, JICA will provide ¥165 million (K2.32 billion/US$1.47 million) for the detailed design of the institute, the Japanese aid agency said in […]
Tough time for Mandalay’s iron smelting businesses
The iron smelting industry using iron scraps is facing challenges to survive, according to the business managers and owners in Mandalay. The industry’s challenges include the lack of technology, capital, skilled labour as well as regional competition – key difficulties shared by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in other sectors. What iron melting factories in […]
Construction sector to submit draft Apartment Law to parliament
The Myanmar Licensed Contractor Association (MLCA) has drafted a proposed Apartment Law to address a regulatory gap in the property sector. Its aim is to generate more demand and create a market for apartments in Myanmar. The MLCA’s Apartment Law seeks to regulate apartment buildings developed on land areas of less than 20,000 sq ft. […]
Insurance in Myanmar: Spreading the Risk
Even though insurance has been around for over one hundred and fifty years in Myanmar, it has all the makings of a new phenomenon. Before independence in 1948, there were between eighty to one hundred firms operating. As a republic with a short stint of democracy at its birth and subsequent decades of military rule, […]
New economic freedoms rouse Myanmar’s sleeping giant
Last week, Myanmar officials wore big smiles at the official launch of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone. They were jubilant that, at last, the nation has its first international-standard SEZ, equipped with all the infrastructure a major business needs – electricity, water supply and port facilities. The project is a joint endeavour, and much of […]
Rival on the rise
While Cambodia’s economic development is often compared to that of neighbouring Vietnam and Thailand’s, industry insiders say the Kingdom needs to keep a close eye on the steady progress being made in Myanmar, which is predicted to eat into Cambodia’s exports in the long term. After decades of isolation, Myanmar has in the last four […]