Myanmar to have investment law protecting foreign firms

Myanmar will soon notify a new investment law according the same treatment to foreign companies as is being given to domestic companies, that will make doing business easier in that country also for Indian firms, Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said on Wednesday.

Suu Kyi said this at a meeting here with Indian business leaders, organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the External Affairs Ministry, according to a CII release.

"With the enactment of the new law, the Myanmar Minister hoped that there would be transparency in contracts, the rule of law would be enforced and corruption would be curbed," the statement said.

She said issues such as repatriation of profit and also of capital have also been addressed in the new law, the statement added.

Suu Kyi also said Indian investment in Myanmar must be linked to Myanmar's overall development.

Suu Kyi is on her the first official visit to New Delhi since her National League for Democracy (NLD) assumed power in Myanmar in March this year.

Earlier on Wednesday, India and Myanmar signed three agreements following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Suu Kyi.

One memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on cooperation in the power sector.

A second MoU was signed on banking supervision between the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of Myanmar while a third MoU was inked for designing an academic and professional building programme for the insurance industry of Myanmar.

In his address at the business meeting, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (ER) Amar Sinha said India-Myanmar bilateral trade was well below par and measures needed to be taken to boost trade.

He said India was working on completing the various connectivity projects that were underway which would link India's Northeast with Myanmar.

India has been a major trading partner of Myanmar and since the signing of the trade agreement between the two countries in 1970, bilateral trade has grown steadily from $328 million in 1997-1998 to $2.052 billion in 2015-2016.

The State Bank of India resumed banking operations in Myanmar earlier this month after a gap of 53 years by inaugurating a branch in the country's largest city Yangon on Monday -- becoming the first Indian bank to do so.

--IANS

bc/rn