The Irrawaddy Magazine

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The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Feb. 21, 2015) Posted: 20 Feb 2015 04:30 PM PST An Aug. 2014 exhibition by Burmese artist Aung Myint at the Transit Shed No 1 gallery, which was shuttered last month. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Some Foreign Investment into Burma 'Remains Blocked' The limits of the Burmese government's economic reform program are ruling out foreign investment in some sectors, a new report said this week. Business consultancy Oxford Business Group released The Report: Myanmar 2015, the second installment of the groups's lengthy annual reader on the country's economy and its prospects. In a section on capital inflows, the group cited figures from the Ministry of National Planning and Development's directorate of investment and company administration showing that foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals soared from US$1.4 billion in the 2012-13 fiscal year to $4.1 billion in 2013-14. In just the first seven months of the current fiscal year, which began in April, another $4 billion of FDI was approved, according to the data. The report cautioned, however, that "FDI inflows tend to fall somewhat short of permissions and lag behind by a year or more." "While foreign investment is accelerating, there are ways in which it remains blocked," the report said. "Some sectors such as retail trade were expected to be opened up, while the current government appeared reluctant to open up others such as agriculture, forestry, precious stone mining, retail banking and retail insurance." It said almost all foreign investment is in the form of FDI, since cross-border loans are restricted and foreigners are barred from owning shares in most local companies. The report quoted Lau Sim Yee, director of the consultancy Myanmar Economic Resources International, saying that some government officials appeared to be protecting allies in business. "Political leaders aren't afraid of foreign companies," Lau Sim Yee told the Oxford Business Group. "But they're still very protective of a small group of business people. They're afraid that if those people aren't protected they could be outplayed." IMF Predicts Growth to Slow, Inflation to Rise The International Monetary Fund is predicting that growth in Burma's economy will have slowed in the current fiscal year. In a statement on February 11 following an IMF team's visit to Myanmar, the financial institution said that gross domestic product (GDP) growth was expected to be 7.8 percent in the 2014-15 fiscal year. While an impressive rate of growth, the figure represents a deceleration in economic expansion from the 8.3 percent growth seen in 2013-14, according to the IMF. "The growth outlook of the Myanmar economy remains favorable over the medium term, but downside risks for the near term have increased," the statement said. "Fiscal risks stem from spending pressures, including a potential large increase in public sector wages, which will raise inflation expectations." Inflation will increase slightly from 5.8 percent in 2013-14 to 6 percent this year, it said. The statement said progress was being made on modernising Burma's outmoded financial sector, and the IMF team lauded a recent auction of government bonds. Three- and five-year treasury bonds worth a total of nearly $50 million were put up for sale earlier this month, but less than half were sold. The IMF said the auction was "a major step forward in establishing a non-inflationary alternative to [Central Bank of Myanmar] deficit financing and helps develop the financial market." Troubled Miner Sees Staff Bus Attacked Chinese-Burmese joint venture Myanmar Wanbao's problems grew this week as the company announced that a bus carrying Burmese workers was violently attacked. The firm is facing criticism over the Letpadaung copper-mining project in Sagaing Division after Amnesty International published a damning report this month outlining abuses linked to the mine including forced relocations, suppression of protests and environmental damage. Locals and activists have staged continuing protests against the project, and opposition has already led to a renegotiation of terms to give the government the largest slice of revenue from the mine. The rest of the revenue is shared between a Burma Army-owned company and a Chinese state-owned defense conglomerate. According to a statement posted on Myanmar Wanbao's website, a bus carrying Burmese workers from a worksite to their homes was attacked on Monday evening. "At around 6:15pm, the bus was stopped by a group of about 30 unknown people on the main road," it said. "They threatened the passengers and the driver before beginning to attack the bus with stones shattering the windows." The statement said four people required medical attention after the attack. It is unclear whether the attack was related to public opposition to the controversial project, and Wanbao Myanmar insisted in the statement that "the overwhelming majority of our neighbors in this lovely area of Myanmar are peace-loving and they share in our condemnation of this violence against our colleagues." Trade Booms at Myawaddy-Mae Sot Checkpoint Trade through the international checkpoint between Myawaddy and Mae Sot has increased more than two-and-a-half times since 2011, according to Thai government statistics. The border post linking eastern Burma's Karen State with Thailand's Tak Province is the busiest crossing point on the Burmese-Thai border. Figures provided by Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that in 2014, goods worth more than $1.9 billion passed through Thai customs at Mae So, ip from just $678 million in 2011, the year in which Burma embarked upon economic reforms and reconnected with Western countries. The vast majority of the trade is made up of goods traveling into Burma, including diesel, food products and construction materials. The two countries' governments have announced plans to further expand overland trade through development projects near the border crossing and a second bridge at the border over the Moei River. A new Thai-built road connecting Myawaddy with the rest of Burma across the Dawna mountain range is nearing completion, and is scheduled to be officially opened in July. More Jetty, More Problems Rangoon's Port Autonomy restaurant and TS1 art gallery have been unceremoniously shuttered, not long after they popped up last year in the unlikely location of Lanthit Jetty's strip of riverside warehouses. TS1, or Transit Shed No. 1, was inaugurated as Rangoon's latest upscale art space last April, and Port Autonomy opened in November, selling beer and posh food out of retro enamel crockery. They are part of Pun Projects, a Rangoon-based firm specializing in "luxury retail concepts," set up by Ivan Pun, son of Sino-Burmese tycoon Serge Pun. The adjacent gallery and restaurant were part of Pun's "Yangon Pop-up" project, which "aims to spearhead urban renewal and cultural exchange in a city on the verge of unprecedented change," according to the TS1 website. In late January, a sign was posted on the doors of the two establishments near the Rangoon River reading: "Closed until further notice. Thank you. #jettyproblems." Workers were seen stripping Port Autonomy of its furniture earlier this week. "The lease for the TS1 project was for one year only," Ivan Pun told The Irrawaddy on Friday. "We had hoped that we would be able to renew the lease this month to continue the work we have done down there…Unfortunately, the Myanmar Port Authority decided that they did not want this project to continue in that area." "We definitely hope to reopen both TS1 art space and Port Autonomy when we find a suitable space," he added. The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Feb. 21, 2015) appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

All-Hours, Affordable Indonesian at Toba in Rangoon Posted: 20 Feb 2015 04:01 PM PST Indonesian and Indo-Chinese dishes populate the menu of Toba restaurant in Rangoon. (Photo: Timo Jaworr / The Irrawaddy) On this particular Wednesday night, Toba was the setting for an increasingly rare phenomenon in Rangoon's trendy Yaw Min Gyi neighborhood: that of walking into a restaurant and realizing that you are the only Westerner there. It wasn't for lack of patrons either; the narrow space that's reminiscent of a railroad car was almost full, which is always a good sign. The purportedly 24-hour restaurant, which takes its name from the world's largest volcanic lake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, opened its doors without much fanfare in late 2014. Luckily, the food is much more Indonesian than the restaurant is 24/7, and while it's certainly a good late-night option, reports are that the restaurant does close its doors sporadically during those key hours when the boundary between late night and early morning blurs. The menu gives customers reason to hope. It's a thick binder with laminated page after page of Indonesian and Indo-Chinese dishes (with plenty of options for vegetarians), and though the prices aren't listed, they range from 1,700-4,900 kyats (about US$2 to US$5) per dish. The restaurant doesn't sell beer or alcohol, but the waiters are happy to pop into the nearby convenience store to purchase what you please for a mere 100 kyats surcharge. Décor-wise, the kindest thing that can be said about Toba's pleather booths and mismatched tables is that the token efforts at creating an ambience are endearing. The walls of the ground floor have been painted with giant if rudimentary murals inspired by Indonesian landscapes, and it's remarkable how closely the shade of green selected resembles that tempera green used by schoolchildren for finger painting. The draw of a place like Toba, however, lies not in its furniture or place mats, but strictly in the food. Begin your meal with the gado gado, a generous serving of steamed mixed veggies topped with a healthy dose of peanut sauce and krupuk, which are essentially delicious fried "crispy bits." The dish is sweet and peanutty with a perfect underlying spicy kick, and is a good way to introduce the palate to the different range of flavors that the meal is about to unveil. Accompany this with one of the many varieties of nasi goreng on the menu, since the fried rice varieties at Toba are some of the less greasy I've come across in the city. Other highlights include the sapi rendang, a coconut milk, lemongrass beef stew that's surprisingly tender and flavorful. With ramekin-sized portions, be sure to order more than one. While the udung sambal had the right hint of shrimp paste and tamarind, there was something about the prawns that didn't taste fresh, which is worrying given the fact that our photographer was denied access to the kitchen because it was "not tidy." The perkedel kentang (potato dumplings) were tasty if unmemorable and similarly, the chicken skewers were well-seasoned with turmeric and a hint of curry, though they in turn were a little dry. The meal as a whole was plentiful, satisfying and cheap, which seems to be exactly what Toba is going for. As far as Indonesian cuisine goes, Toba is certainly noteworthy among the options in Rangoon, though if it were located in Jakarta or in some lost little alley of Bandung, it wouldn't stand much of a chance. The risk with a menu so big in a restaurant that's relatively small is that the kitchen does some of the more popular dishes very well and often, but then it fails at others. (Whatever you do, stay away from the tahu isi.) Still, I'll be returning to Toba, if only in hopes of trying their elusive tempeh, which everybody seems to hear good things about, even if only a lucky few have ever had the privilege of sampling it. The post All-Hours, Affordable Indonesian at Toba in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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