Climate, Food, Economy
July 3, 2025
Ambitious plans by the Myanmar Central Government to catapult the current status of the country’s agriculture industry into the Foodbasket of Asia within the 21st Century will require tenacity and a steady flow of investments to upgrade machinery, seed stock fertilizer input, and crop handling methods.
Editors Personal Article after attending the Myanmar Agribusiness Investment Summit 2014 in Yangon.
Opportunities/Challenges of Dawei Deep Sea Port Project which covers in brief the details of:
Project Site, Development Chronology, Regional Connectivity Transport to adjacent ASEAN countries, Commercial Gateway possibilities, Advantages of the location and deep water port access, Environmental Impact Study, Pollution, Displaced People as a result of construction.
On my last trip to Yangon I was there specifically to secure our supply contracts and survey logistics connections at three ports in town.
I have put together this powerpoint purely of container hauling truck tire images. If you are going to do business in the country you should know how cargo moves from place to place and if it will arrive in one piece.
Tire Quality on Container Hauling Vehicles in Myanmar 2014 (Power Point)
A quick glance at infrastructure in Myanmar by KPMG.
ROADS & PORTS
RAILWAYS & AIRPORTS
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES / INDUSTRIAL ZONES
SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Myanmar boasts the highest proportion of forest cover in mainland Southeast Asia and almost half of the country’s territory is covered by forested land.
Myanmar’s total forest area was logged at a rate of 310,000 hectares per year between 2005 and 2012. Main drivers of deforestation are agricultural conversion, fuel wood, charcoal consumption, and commercial logging. National deforestation estimates are mapped estimates shown in hectares (Dark Brown).
Myanmar Ministry of Mines has issued 1355 mining permits since April 2012.
Tin: Mawchi Mine, Tanintharyi Division. Lead-Zinc: Namtu- Bawdwin, Yadanar Theingi and Bawsaing Mines.
Gold: Kyaukpahto Gold Mine, Kawlin Township, Sagaing Division, Phayoungtaung Gold Mine in Patheingyi Township Mandalay Division
Iron Ore Deposits at Kathaing Taung. Ferro-Nickel Exploration at Mwe Taung
Current Mining Activities in Myanmar: Tin, Gold, Lead, Zinc and Iron Ore
There are three maps I came across from conferences I have been to that show planned and completed routes for container cargo, pipeline, rail & road routes linking Myanmar and China.
You can find a much more in-depth analysis of planned transport routes using Myanmar as the central pivot point in an earlier article I wrote "Myanmar the Missing Link from Western China to India’s N.E. States"
In an effort to keep up with the latest business and travel news coming out of Yangon in print form, I pick up publications I find during my travels.
I stubbled across a copy of Myanma Freedom Daily Newspaper at a street side news stand. It's a new daily publication that was granted permission to begin in late 2013 by the Myanmar's Ministry of Information. This is the first time I have seen it for sale. Domestic political & business content.
This special report contains: Geopolitics in Myanmar, FDI in Myanmar’s Energy Sector, Energy Sector Insurance Policies, Interview with MPRL’s CEO; U Moe Myint, Development of Myanmar’s Hydropower Projects, Myitsone Hydroelectric Dam Overview, Engineering Prospects, Myanmar Green Designs for Energy Efficiency, Myanmar Oil and Gas Joint Venture Rules Overview, Lessons learned from Myanmar’s Jatropha planting policy, PTTEP Social Responsibility Policy, Myanmar Offshore Gas Fields Overview. $1= 980Kyat (per liter).
United Nations ESCAP recommends a dry port of area of 8.5 hectares be established near the existing Merchandise Center in Mandalay, citing containerized cargo throughput at Yangon port increasing approximately 16% for the last six years.
Myanmar Inland Water Transport (IWT) in 2011, handled 5 million tons of freight, about 50% more freight than carried by the railways. IWT has a total capacity of about 70,000 tons and moves along some 5,000 km of navigable waterways.
Residents of Kyaukpyu will for the first time have the convenience of 24 hour electricity made possible by gas turbines from Shwe Gas pipeline terminal converting compressed natural gas into electricity. Homes in Kyaukpyu and Ramree Island will have electricity at rates of 35 kyat (0.033 U.S. dollar) per unit (1 kWh).
Local industries accesssing 24 hour electricity will pay a rate of 75 kyat (0.072 U.S. dollar) per unit. Which begs the question, how will villages along the piplines to China thrive after the introduction of a reliable power supply. A prosperity corridor to the Chinese border?
The 120 sq km “Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone” (SEZ) will be managed by Chinese state-owned CITIC group on Ramree island, where China is constructing a deep sea port for ships bringing oil from the Middle East and Africa to supply Western China’s oil.
Impact analysis of the Environment, Livelihoods of displaced villagers and fisherman around the Kyaukphyu/ Ramree Island Area.
Kyaukphyu SEZ Oil and Gas Pipeline Project Enviromental and Livelihood Impact Analysis
In an effort to keep up with the latest business news coming out of Myanmar, on my last trip I picked up an extra Myanmar Customs Declaration Form in the Yangon International Airport.
Customs procedures are straight forward, simply pass your bag through the X-Ray scanner at the exit and you are through in a couple of minutes.
Banks to change money are immediately outside the gates as you leave the customs check area. Rates inside baggage claim are approximately the same as outside in the arrival hall.
A look at the emerging roles of women in CMLV economies. Their empowerment in the workforce and family & the opportunities as CLMV economies expand.
Sectors covered include: Automotive, Construction, Renewable Energy, Manufacturing, Consumer Goods.
Role of Women in CMLV Economies, Empowerment & Opportunities (PowerPoint)
Lao central or provincial governments typically grant agricultural concessions in Laos and give investors exclusive land use rights for periods of around 30 or 35 years.
The extent of concessions in Laos is because the government owns all land by law, local landholders generally have no commercial ownership of the enterprise, and their involvement is limited to that of wage laborers.
In an effort to keep up with the latest business news coming out of Myanmar, on my last trip I picked up an extra Immigration Arrival/Departure Card in the Yangon International Airport.
Immigration procedures are straight forward but the lines are slow moving allow at least ½ hour to have your passport stamped.
You will need 2 photos if you are using Vias on Arrival. Waits of up to an hour in the VOA line are common if several flights are arriving at the same time.
Giant King Grass plantations can be co-located with a power plant, pellet mill, or bio-refinery. High yields are crucial to make biomass electricity affordable. Prices can be even lower than agricultural waste when the Power Plant can grow its own fuel or enter into a long term fuel supply contract with local farmers.
200 acres of Giant King Grass provide enough electricity for 13,000 rural households, is not tied to a food harvest which reduces seasonality and is a scalable and this clean energy module that can be replicated throughout Myanmar.
Trucking tonnes upon tonnes of bulky equipment hundreds of kilometres over dilapidated roads, through acres of paddy fields, across rivers and up steep, narrow and winding mountain roads on the backs of ancient flatbed trucks comes with a horde of challenges.
A special hydraulic trailer that retails at upwards of US $1 million fresh out of the shop, or around US $250,000 second-hand.
M-Zine Plus Special Feature, Trucking in Myanmar
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