Myanmar morning news for January 14, 2019

Reuters journalists lose Yangon court appeal against seven-year sentence
A Yangon Region High Court judge has dismissed an appeal by Reuters reporters Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, upholding their sentence of seven years each in prison under the Official Secrets Act.
— Frontier Myanmar

Mineral exports decrease 24% in Q1
Mineral exports between Myanmar and overseas trade partners were valued at US$296 million in fiscal year 2018-2019, down by $95 million or 24.4 per cent, as against the same period in the last 2017-2018 FY, the Ministry of Commerce reported.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

MIC gives green-light to nine investments
Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) granted the permits to nine new investments including CMP factories and LPG businesses at its meeting on January 11.
— Eleven Myanmar

Opium Cultivation In Myanmar Drops Further, UN Says
The area of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar dropped for the fourth year in a row to 37,300 hectares in 2018 in the two main producer states, Shan and Kachin, down ten per cent from the 41,000 hectares recorded in 2017, according to the new Myanmar Opium Survey 2018 released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on January 11.
— Investvine

Local fuel prices likely to rise again
After a drop in prices of K150 a litre, fuel prices are likely to rise again within a few days according to retailers.
— Myanmar Times

Rice export earnings decline by over 200 million in nearly nine months
From April to December, 2018, Myanmar earned about USD 578.807 million from the exports of 1.717 million tons of rice, down more than 210.975 million USD compared with the same period last year, according to the figures released by Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF).
— Eleven Myanmar

Myanmar-Thailand border trade hit over 900 mln USD in 1st quarter of FY 2018-19
Bilateral border trade between Myanmar and Thailand reached 937.4 million U.S. dollars in first three months of current fiscal year 2018-2019 which started in October, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Saturday.
— Brinkwire

Tech boom to bring in a new era in Myanmar
THOUGH DIGITAL literacy is still low in Myanmar, people’s eagerness to try new things and their ability to easily adapt to a new environment could generate a technology boom in the country by encouraging young entrepreneurs to establish tech-based companies, say tech experts.
— The Nation (very annoying popups)

Infrastructure is key to equitable development
Infrastructure plays a pivotal role in not only supporting the country’s economic growth, but also in ensuring equitable development across the country because of Myanmar’s geographical location.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

Myanmar: Wives of Reuters journalists devastated by verdict
Myanmar court rejects appeal by jailed Reuters journalists, upholding seven-year sentence for investigating killings.
— Aljazeera

Maritime trade reaches $5.9bln in Q1 of current FY
Myanmar’s maritime trade in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year has touched US$5.982 billion, an increase of $443 million compared with the corresponding period of the last FY, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
— Global Newlight of Myanmar

Foreign insurance firms can give Myanmar’s lagging insurance market a much-needed boost
It has been a long time coming, but foreign insurance companies will soon be able to operate in Myanmar. Plans to liberalise the insurance market in this way were first announced in 2011. But only now has the government given the regulations the go-ahead.
— Asean Today

Myanmar: Meth capital of the world
A report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) this week pointing out that Myanmar’s Shan State is one of the world’s largest producers of crystal methamphetamine is hardly surprising.
— The Asean Post

Five Myanmar nationals held over murder of agent
Four men and a woman from Myanmar were detained to assist investigations in the case of a foreign worker agent who was found dead with 14 stab wounds on several parts of the body in a flat in Taman Pulasan, Bukit Minyak here yesterday.
— Malay Mail

Hope and fear in Myanmar town seen as next Chinese outpost
Rocky trails running behind waterfront shacks end abruptly in neat avenues with lamp posts bearing auspicious Chinese knots and tassels.
— The Straits Times

Rakhine State government bans NGO visits to conflict areas
The Rakhine State government has issued an instruction which bans NGOs from visiting villages in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw based on information they gathered regarding the fighting in Rakhine State.
— Mizzima

Providing a peek into the new Myanmar
Myanmar has been the victim of too many myths and prejudices ever since it opted to shut itself from the world over half a century back. A milder, freer and devout version of North Korea till 1962, Burma opened itself to the world around 2010 with a spanking new capital, a truly free election and a turn to the market economy.
— Tribune India

Myanmar Independence Day celebrated
On January 4, 1948, the Union ofBurma gained its independence from Britain and emerged as a sovereign state, Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Myanmar, the second largest country in Southeast Asia, is seeking to project its influence in the region through ASEAN.
— The Nation

A 19-year-old Rohingya woman escaped oppression and violence in Myanmar and is now going to college in Bangladesh
On the first day of the school year at the Asian University for Women in southern Bangladesh, groups of teenage girls in skinny jeans, sleeveless tops and T-shirts chattered, their laughter carrying through the sticky air.
— This is Insider

Myanmar constructing construction close to Rohingya makeshifts
Ignoring concerns of Bangladeshi authorities and Rohingya refugees and in flagrant violation of international law, Myanmar has been constructing a concrete structure in the no-man’s land on its border with Bangladesh’s Ghumdhum area, media reported.
— Infosurhoy

Chinese cities open direct flights to Thailand, Myanmar
Two major cities in southwest China opened direct passenger flights to Thailand and Myanmar respectively on Friday to boost bilateral exchanges.
— Brinkwire

First quarter maritime trade reaches $5.9 bln
Myanmar’s maritime trade in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year has reached US$5.982 billion, an increase of $443 million compared with the corresponding period of the last FY, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
— Mizzima

Gov’t funds Ks 773 m for elephantiasis vaccination program
The government has provided a fund of Ks 773 million for the nationwide elephantiasis vaccination program, said Dr. Aye Mon Mon Kyaw, assistant director of Yangon Region Public Health Department.
— Eleven Myanmar

FMI changes name, revises constitution
Yangon Stock Exchange-listed First Myanmar Investment (FMI) Company announced on Saturday that it will be adopting a new name and constitution in accordance with the Myanmar Companies Law.
— Myanmar Times

Rebel attacks escalate war in Rakhine State
The war in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State is likely to intensify as more government forces have been deployed in the area in the wake of rebel attacks on police stations, The Irrawaddy, a Myanmar website, reported on January 10.
— Asia Times

Chinese, British FMs hold phone conversation over ties, Myanmar
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone conversation with British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt on Thursday and exchanged views over China-Britain ties and the Myanmar issue.
— Mizzima

Feature photo dany13

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Myanmar morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Myanmar news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.