The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has chipped away at the list of enterprises in which foreign investors must form joint ventures with a local company – opening up the areas of seed and rubber production.
The production and distribution of hybrid seeds, production and propagation of high-yield and local seeds, and the manufacturing of rubber and rubber products, no longer requires a local partner, according to an MIC notification posted on March 24.
The notification – designated No. 26/2016 – amends the list of economic activities that require a joint venture under the Foreign Investment Law.
“MIC wants to relax some [areas of] foreign enterprise [to benefit] the economic situation of the country,” said an MIC official, according to the Myanmar Times on Tuesday. The removal of activities from the list mainly depends on the country’s needs and requests from foreign investors, he added.
The notification also adds to a list of activities that are completely prohibited for foreigners. These are businesses that ruin rainforests, places of religious worship, land for grazing or hill-side cultivation, or water resources.
This addition is aimed at monitoring the location of an enterprise, not just the economic activity in question, an MIC official said.
The list of activities off-limits to foreign companies includes manufacturing arms and ammunition for national defence, the exploration or production of jade and producing “ethnic language” periodicals.