By Aye Yamone
A Myanmar-China Business Association will soon be formed to link Myanmar entrepreneurs with Chinese investors, according to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Individuals for the body are being chosen at the request of the Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar, it said.
“From time-to-time, Myanmar has discussed greater economic cooperation with entrepreneurs from other countries. Chinese businesses are keen to invest in Myanmar. Therefore, the Chinese Ambassador asked for the formation of a Myanmar-China Business Council,” according to the UMFCCI. “However, we agreed to form an association, not a council, as the process of forming a council is much more complicated under Myanmar law. Once the association is established, Chinese entrepreneurs will be able to make systematic investments in Myanmar,” said U Zaw Min Win, the President of the UMFCCI. The Myanmar-China Business Association has been registered, he added.
“The Chinese side is compiling a list of entrepreneurs who want to invest and live in Myanmar. It is important for China to encourage only responsible and ethical businessmen to invest in Myanmar,” he said.
“Our main difficulty was that some local businessmen made recommendations to Chinese entrepreneurs. But they showed no interest in our recommendations and formed their own associations for seeking information. But these associations lacked valid information about Myanmar companies. And, we also could not be sure how responsible and ethical the Chinese entrepreneurs were.
So, we needed an association like the MCBA to ensure systematic investments from Chines businessmen,” he added. “China tops the list in terms of foreign direct investments into Myanmar. More and more Chinese businessmen will come and invest in Myanmar as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” he said. In this regard, the UMFCCI and the NLD’s economic committee discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the BRI on 15 March. (Translated by Hay Mar)
