2nd Myanmar Investment Conference

October 2019

On October 21, JETRO convened the Myanmar Investment Conference in Tokyo by welcoming State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was visiting Japan to participate in the enthronement ceremony. This was the second such conference with the state counsellor since October of last year. From the Myanmar side, in addition to the state counsellor, Union Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor Kyaw Tint Swe and Deputy Minister for Planning and Finance Set Aung also took the podium to make a direct call to the approximately 700 Japanese business people in attendance to invest in their country.

In her keynote speech titled "Updated Economic and Investment Policy," State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi emphasized Myanmar’s strong growth, stating that, according to the Asian Development Bank, the economic growth rate in 2019 will reach 6.8%, and in 2020 it will become one of the highest in ASEAN. She also stressed that economic reform is being steadily carried out in such activities as the establishment of Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, opening the insurance business to foreign capital and deregulation for foreign banks, in line with the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) announced in October 2018. She promised to further accelerate this reform by streamlining administrative procedures including through the establishment of a single-window for investment, and expressed hopes for Japanese companies to conduct sustainable and responsible investment for her country.

During the panel discussion in the latter half of the conference, four Japanese-affiliated companies—Mitsubishi Corporation, Toyota Myanmar, Myanmar Postarion (Matsuoka Corporation) and Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Limited（MJTD）—underlined that Myanmar's growing local market is one of the country’s great advantages. Deputy Minister Set Aung stated that the government had to change its mindset in such a way as to play the role of not only a regulating authority but also a service provider, and promised to improve the environment to enable smooth investment.

JETRO will follow up on the seminar by continuing efforts to enhance business exchange between Myanmar and Japan and to facilitate investment.