Myanmar Business Answers

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, is a Southeast Asia multi-ethnic nation. The country has 676,578 square kilometers in size and is the second largest country in Southeast Asia with a fast-growing economy - 6.6% GDP growth in 2018. The country’s GDP in 2017 was US$75.7 billion and GDP PPP was US$342.2 billion. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and Loas to its east and China to its north and northeast. It has a population of over 53 million people with about 55% of the total population under the age of 30. After more than 5 decades of military dictatorship, the country started opening up to the international community in 2011 with the former military-backed government launching a series of dramatic political and economic reforms.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), the opposition party won November 2015 election by a landslide victory and took office in April 2016. That has caught the eyes of many investors as well as abundant opportunities it offers across different sectors. According to DICA, the actual FDI inflow in the country last year accounted US$4002.43 million. On 1stAugust 2018, Myanmar Companies Law, which replaced the 1914 Companies Act, came into effect allowing foreigners to own up to a 35% stake in local companies. Myanmar Companies Online (MyCO), an electronic registry system, was also introduced to ease the business registration process.