Myanmar morning news for July 18

US Targets Myanmar Military Leaders Over Rohingya Killings
The United States has announced restrictions on Myanmar’s military Commander-in-Chief and other military leaders over the killings of Rohingya Muslims in 2017.
— VOA

A border economic zone will be soon built in Myanmar-China border
An economic zone will soon be built in Kanpaiktee at the Myanmar – China border, according to Ministry of Commerce.
— Eleven Myanmar

Suu Kyi’s bid to reform charter sparks rival protests in Myanmar
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, on Wednesday in support of proposed constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the military.
— Reuters

Surviving on the basic wage: higher electric tariffs add to workers’ woes
Workers making minimum wage in Myanmar are bracing for added living costs after the government recently announced that higher electricity tariffs will take effect this month.
— Myanmar times

Myanmar investment inflows double from China as deals surge
Foreign investment shows signs of recovering in Myanmar, one of Southeast Asia’s frontier markets, led by more than twofold gains in inflows from China and Singapore.
— Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)

PTT’s expansion plans in Myanmar
PTT Oil and Retail Business (PTTOR) is poised to invest in the Burmese retail market and the construction of a tank depot for oil and liquefied petroleum gas as well as related facilities in Myanmar. The Thai petro-chemical company’s chairman Attapol Rerkpiboon says the first gas station will open in Q4 this year.
— The Thaiger

Faster implementation of power projects needed in Chin State
The Chin State government wants to prioritise a number of hydropower projects in order that more development can come to the state, which is the poorest in the Union.
— Myanmar times

Injecting new life into Yangon Stock Exchange
THE Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) will be the last of the region’s markets to open up to foreign investors. The normally tight-lipped Yangon market regulator announced on July 12 that it would allow foreigners to own shares of companies listed on the bourse.
— The Business Times

Gas export value in nine months falls by over US$32 m this year
Over US$2.7 billion was earned from export of natural gas in more than nine months of the current fiscal year falling by over US$32 million compared to the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
— Eleven Myanmar

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker, committees hold meeting for National Planning Bill, the Union Budget Bill for 2019-2020 FY
Speaker of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw held a coordinationmeeting with chairmen and deputy chairmen of the Joint Bill Committee, Joint Public Account Committee, Joint Planning and Budget Review Committees yesterday in Nay Pyi Taw over the 2019-2020 National Planning Bill and 2019-2020 Union Budget Bill.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Mandalay to offer affordable housing again next year
The Mandalay City Development Committee plans to sell affordable housing again next year, MCDC member U Kyaw San Myint said.
— Myanmar times

Myanmar weaving businesses face shortage of weavers
Earlier, Myanmar weaving businesses were passed down through generations as family businesses. But now, weaving businesses are surviving on a manageable scale in rural areas, including the Chaungzone Township of Mon State. “We have been working on the weaving business for about seven years. We mostly weave Kayin ethnic clothes.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

US Sanctions Hurt Military Dignity: Spokesperson
What, beyond vanity, the sanctions may materially mean remains to be seen. “The leaders don’t travel to the US, and they need not travel there,” a spokesperson said.
— Irrawaddy

Israel to Bar Myanmar Officials From Arms Expos
Decision to stop issuing visas for this purpose comes after Haaretz documented officers attending Tel Aviv expo, despite international embargo over serious human rights violations
— Haaretz

Dung and Dragons: Myanmar kids dodge cows to play rugby
Sidestepping cowpats and garbage, Myanmar’s only home-grown junior rugby side train on the outskirts of Yangon, preparing to take on children from the city’s well-heeled international schools.
— France 24

Japan’s Daiwa sets up fund for Myanmar start-ups
Tokyo-headquartered investment bank Daiwa Securities Group has seeded a US$30 million venture capital fund in Myanmar to invest in local start-ups.
— Myanmar times

Horse-cart tours expand, price rises in Inwa
Horse-cart tours will be improved and and fees will increase for foreign tourists at the ancient city of Inwa in Tada-U township, Mandalay Region, starting August 1.
— Myanmar times

Charter reform bid sparks protests in Myanmar
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, yesterday in support of proposed constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the military.
— Gulf Times

State Counsellor, Deputy Military Chief meet UNSG’s Special Envoy separately
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Vice-Senior General Soe Win separately met United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, at their offices in Nay Pyi Taw on July 15th, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
— Eleven Myanmar

State Counsellor opens Yangon Innovation Centre
The opening ceremony of the Yangon Innovation Centre was held in front of that building in the compound of Health Port at the corner of Pansodan road and Strand road in Seikkan Township, Yangon Region, at 10 am yesterday.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Myanmar’s first advanced landfill to open in Mandalay
Myanmar’s first level-4 sanitary landfill with leachate treatment facilities is being built in Kyauk Kyan Taung in Mandalay city, said U Kyaw San Myint of the Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC).
— Myanmar times

Union Border Affairs Minister surveys development progress across Kayah tsps
Union Minister for Border Affairs, Lt-Gen Ye Aung, met with officials of Prusho Township Development Office on 16 July. He was accompanied by U Khin Maung Tun, MP for Prusho Constituency 2 of the State Hluttaw.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Wave Money expands network, commissions, and volume
Wave Money, Myanmar’s mobile financial services provider, moved US$1.7 billion in remittance for the first six months of 2019, the company said in a statement.
— Myanmar Times

13 H1N1 deaths reported in Myanmar within 4 days
A total of 13 more deaths by A(H1N1) pdm 09 influenza have been reported in Myanmar over the past four days, according to the figures released by the public health department under the ministry of health and sports Wednesday.
— Xinhua

Myanmar must face the music
These latest sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders should be lauded as the right move.
— dhakatribune

Myanmar groups stage protests at S’pore embassies
Dozens of Myanmar nationals staged a series of demonstrations in front of the Singapore embassies in Tokyo yesterday and Washington on Monday to protest against the Singapore Government’s arrest and deportation of leaders of the Arakan Association (Singapore).
— The Straits Times

Myanmar learns about regional autonomy in Bangka Belitung Province
Pangkalpinang, Riau (ANTARA) – The Myanmar government learned about a decentralization and regional autonomy system in Bangka Belitung Islands Province, noting that the conditions of the local government were similar to what is found in Myanmar.
— Antara

Geek Girls Myanmar creates space for tech-savvy women
Like many of her peers who left Myanmar to work or study overseas, Ma Sandy Sein Thein, founder of Geek Girls Myanmar and managing director of Digital Kaway Co Ltd, was lured back home by the opportunity to contribute to the country’s growth and development.
— Myanmar Times

Chef Wan helps students raise funds for Myanmar mobility programme
FIVE undergraduates from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) will soon get a lifetime experience as participants during the Language and Cultural Engagement Programme in Myanmar this October.
— New Straits Times

Constitution Amendment Supporters Rally in Cities Nationwide
Thousands gathered in cities across the country to support the recent report of the Charter Amendment Committee, which the military has declared unconstitutional.
— Irrawaddy

NRPC, KNPP hold peace talks in Nay Pyi Taw
National Reconciliation and Peace Centre Vice Chairman U Tun Tun Oo, who is also the Union Attorney-General, met with a delegation led by Khu Oo Reh, the leader of the peace implementation committee of the Karenni National Progressive Party, yesterday to discuss the peace process and the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Most of country’s tiger habitat ‘too dangerous to survey’
Only 10 percent of tiger habitat was included in the latest tiger population survey nationwide, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society-Myanmar.
— Myanmar times

IKBZ wins Insurance Asia Awards for 3rd year in row
IKBZ Insurance won the best awards at the Insurance Asia Award 2019 at Shangri-la Hotel in Singapore on 16th July. This is the third year in a row that the IKBZ has won this prestigious distinction of ‘Insurance Asia Awards’ for Myanmar.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Ethnic Parties, NLD at Odds over Pace of Military’s Exit from Politics
In proposed charter changes, ANP, SNLD and others call for immediate return to barracks, while the NLD suggests a gradual phasing out of the Tatmadaw from Parliament.
— Irrawaddy

Nearly 9,500 People Affected by Rakhine State Floods
Local disaster management officials say they have yet to receive assistance from private or govt relief organizations.
— Irrawaddy

State Counsellor attends dinner with authors in Yangon
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi participated in a dinner gathering with authors at the Novotel Hotel in Yangon yesterday. She greeted the authors warmly before the dinner, conversing on literature and then having a documentary photo taken together.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Union Minister Dr Win Myat Aye receives Country Director of WB Ms Ellen Goldstein
Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr. Win Myat Aye received Director for Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR Ms Ellen Goldstein and party in the Maykhalar Hall of the Union Minister’s office in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Secretariat to host Martyrs’ Day exhibition
To mark the Martyrs’ Day, the Secretariat will host a commemorative ceremony and exhibition on 19 July on Theinbyu Road, Botahtaung Township,Yangon Region, according to the Yangon City Development Committee.
— The Global New Light of Myanmar

Feature photo Holidify

This week’s Myanmar morning news feature photo focuses on Asalha Puja, July 16.

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.