Myanmar morning news for July 11

Tourism Ministry remains positive as visa restrictions eased
With the easing of some visa restrictions to attract more Western tourists to take effect on October 2019, Myanmar expects to receive more visitors this year, a senior official said.
— Eleven Myanmar

Ninety tonnes of plastic a day dumped in Ayeyarwady
About 90 tonnes of plastic waste a day are dumped in the Ayeyarwady River and another 29 tonnes in the Yangon River, said Friedor Jeske, waste management expert at Thant Myanmar.
— Myanmar Times

Spyware dealers spotted in Myanmar
One of the oldest private hacking companies around found itself in the spotlight again this week. Gamma Group, a German company that sells spyware to the highest bidder, was discovered within the last year to be spying on dozens of mobile devices in different parts of the world by the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky.
— Technology Review

AA Chief’s Brother, Several Arakanese Arrested in Singapore
Six Arakanese living in Singapore were arrested by police there this week–allegedly at the Myanmar government’s request. Police also seized computers and cell phones.
— Irrawaddy

Shan State government signs MoU on implementation of hydropower project
TAUNGGYI-With the aim to build 30-MW hydropower plant near Nantpon Creek, Naunghtaung village, Hsi Saing Township, Pa-O Self-administered Zone, in southern Shan State, the Shan State Government yesterday afternoon signed MoU with the M.Y Holding Co;Ltd at the meeting hall of Shan State Government’s Office.
— Eleven Myanmar

Myanmar produces about 3,200 megawatts of electricity daily
Myanmar is now generating about 3,200 megawatts of electricity daily, according to Ministry of Electricity and Energy.
— Eleven Myanmar

Myanmar launches environmental assessment, geo-survey on deep-sea port project in western state
Myanmar has launched the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and preliminary geological survey of Kyauk Phyu Deep-Sea Port (KPDSP) project in Kyauk Phyu, western Rakhine state, according to a statement on Wednesday.
— Xinhua

Competition heats up on Yangon-Shanghai route
Chinese budget carrier Spring Airlines on Monday commenced scheduled operations at Terminal 1 of the Yangon International Airport (YIA).
— Myanmar Times

Myanmar to welcome more returnees from Thailand before year’s end
Following the success of the repatriation of 310 Myanmar refugees who returned from the neighbouring Thailand last week, Myanmar expects to welcome the fifth group of returnees by the end of this year, senior officials said.
— Eleven Myanmar

Get All Myanmar inks pact with g&g
With local residents becoming more familiar with the convenience and time savings of digital services, Get All Myanmar Co – a locally owned online-to-offline (O2O) platform – has signed a deal with g&g Co, Myanmar’s biggest convenience-store chain, to provide digital services at its open-all-hours outlets across the nation.
— Eleven Myanmar

Myanmar to select table tennis players for SEA Games
Myanmar Table-tennis Federation has planned to choose players for Southeast Asian Games to be held from November 30 to December 11 in Manila, the Philippines.
— Myanmar Times

Shwe Stream set to grow rapidly in Myanmar
In response to the growing demand for digital content in the entertainment industry, locally owned eTrade Myanmar Co has introduced a value-added service, the Shwe Stream application, to the market, according to Phay Thwin Htun, the firm’s business development manager.
— Eleven Myanmar

Myanmar’s new insurers face a tough sell
The insurance sector is about to undergo rapid growth thanks to a recent liberalisation, but competition will be fierce and attracting customers to new, unfamiliar products could prove hard.
— Frontier Myanmar

With Myanmar’s Internet Expansion, Cybercrimes Soar
As internet access in Myanmar expanded with affordable SIM cards and reliable 3G and 4G network infrastructure, between 2015 and 2018 the country recorded over 2,000 cybercrimes, according to statistics from the Home Affairs Ministry.
— Irrawaddy

Clinic closure marks milestone for HIV treatment in Myanmar
As part of a nationwide strategy to transfer HIV patients to Myanmar’s National AIDS Programme (NAP), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) closed our HIV clinic in Insein, Yangon in late June.
— Reliefweb

Helping young women set goals, find independence
Unlike her siblings, who inherited the family’s mercantile businesses, Ma Hnin Wai has always had an entrepreneurial streak, and decided to forge her own career path early in life. Now she is managing director of her own company, Linn Lei Shwe Sin, which imports wallpaper and flooring from South Korea and distributes it in Myanmar. She is also a professional career, human resources and business consultant.
— Myanmar Times

Avani and Oaks hotel brands to debut in Yangon, Myanmar
Minor Hotels, a hotel owner, operator and investor, currently with a portfolio of more than 520 hotels in 53 countries, will debut its Avani and Oaks brands in Yangon, Myanmar, with the development of two hotels as part of a management agreement with Kajima Yankin PPP, a wholly-capitalized subsidiary of Kajima Overseas Asia.
— Saudigazette

NPE opens advertising section in Nay Pyi Taw
The News and Periodicals Enterprise (NPE) has opened their advertising section for Nay Pyi Taw at office No 7 of the Ministry of Information yesterday. The section will accept advertisements to be put in Myanma Alinn, Kyemon, The Global New Light of Myanmar and Myanmar Digital News.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Union Minister U Thein Swe receives OeSD Senior Government Program Manager
Union Minister for Labour, Immigration and Population U Thein Swe received the Austrian delegation led by OeSD Senior Government Program Manager Mr Wilhelm Faul in the meeting hall of the ministry’s office in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

The United Nations’ Failures in Myanmar: Lessons Learned?
Last month, the United Nations released a scathing report about the organization’s own actions in Myanmar over the past ten years.
— CFR

Pay attention to human rights at sea
Human trafficking is a global phenomenon to which no country is immune. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 20.9 million people are forced into labour every year all over the world. In an announcement in 2016, the United Nations Office for Drug and Crimes (UNODC) has stated that human trafficking is a US$150-billion industry.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Kachin IDP Woman Found Dead in Apparent Murder
A 51-year-old IDP was found dead on the floor of her northern Shan State home with bruises on her body and rope lying nearby. Locals want to know what happened.
— Irrawaddy

MHA arrests at least six supporters of Myanmar insurgent group in Singapore
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has arrested a group of Myanmar nationals for using Singapore to mobilise support for armed violence against their government.
— The Strait Times

Flash Floods Kill Two, Intensify Suffering in Rohingya Camps
Intense rains killed an elderly woman and a 5-year-old boy in the precarious refugee camps near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, as the monsoon season begins.
— Irrawaddy

Villagers get diseases from waste-contaminated water
Villagers who live near a 10-inch pipe that discharges wastewater from factories in the Mandalay Industrial Zone in the Dotehtawady River have suffered health and social problems for years.
— Myanmar Times

State Counsellor attends meeting on celebrating centenary of Yangon University
Steering Committee on Holding Centenary of Yangon University Chairperson State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended and addressed the Yangon University Centenary Ceremony Holding Steering Committee coordination meeting 1/2019 was held at Ministry of Education assembly hall in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday morning.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

60 Yangon schools picked for health programme
Yangon health authorities will work with 60 schools in the region on a health programme to promote knowledge of health standards among students in the current academic year, a senior official of the Yangon Region Public Health Department has announced.
— Myanmar Times

The sky’s the limit for Yangon’s new roads: An interview with Kyi Zaw Myint, Director General—Ministry of Construction.
Question: “First and foremost, what is in store for the future of transportation in Yangon? What are some of the goals of these proposed large scale projects and expressways?”
— Eleven Myanmar

Ignoring Ethnic Parties will Hurt NLD in 2020
A reluctance to engage with or listen to the wishes of ethnic communities and political parties mean the NLD will be more contested than ever in the upcoming election.
— Irrawaddy

Bodhi Tahtaung camp to offer elephant rides starting 14 July
The Bodhi Tahtaung elephant camp will launch a seven-furlong elephant ride with five elephants on 14 July in the Monywa Timber Enterprise region, according to U Zaw Win Thein, Assistant General Manager, Monywa Timber Enterprise.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

UN Special Envoy visits Sittway
Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Mrs Christine Burgener, led a delegation to Sittway yesterday. The delegation was welcomed at Sittway Airport by Deputy Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U Soe Aung, State Ministers Colonel Phone Tint and U Aung Kyaw Zan, and other officials.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Four Foreigners Detained for Militant Links in Malaysia
Two of the four are said to be Rohingya men from Myanmar who are alleged to have provided support to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, Malaysian police say.
— Irrawaddy

MCU Council confers Honorary Doctorate Degree on Thura U Aung Ko
The Council of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University-MCU of Thailand conferred an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Public Administration on Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Thura U Aung Ko yesterday at the Karaweik Hall (Karaweik Palace) in Yangon.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Flood Resilience in Myanmar’s Dry Zone
In central Myanmar, many villages and their inhabitants are in danger. Climate change is causing both excessive rainfall and prolonged drought, and the Irawaddy River, Myanmar’s lifeline, is increasingly bursting its banks. With disastrous consequences.
— Reliefweb

Government meets KNU in informal talks
The government’s Peace Commission and Karan National Union (KNU) met for informal talks on July 9 at National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC) in Shweli Road, Yangon.
— Mizzima

Union Minister Thura U Aung Ko attends opening ceremony of head office of Asian Buddhist Community
An opening ceremony of the head office of Asian Buddhist Community (ABC), under the aegis of the Myanmar Theravada Buddhist Federation and the Border Areas, Hill Region Sasana Nuggaha Association (Central) and representatives comprised of 12 countries, was held yesterday morning at the Zabuthiri Beikman, Mayangon Township, Yangon.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Feature photo ASAP

This week’s Myanmar morning news feature photo focuses on Asean’s endangered species, here, the white-bellied heron (Ardea insignis)

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.