Electricity and Energy merger complete

A merger between the ministries of electric power and energy, ordered by the new government in March, is now complete and the new structure will be submitted to the cabinet for approval, officials said.
Permanent secretary U Htain Lwin said yesterday that operational changes and job cuts have been minimal.

“There are no big changes in the merger. The day-to-day operations of our ministry will continue as usual,” he said.

Jade Miners from Hpakant Don’t care about Landslide

Hundreds of people were still working yesterday in the jade mines of Hpakant, Kachin State, despite continuing downpours that had triggered a lethal landslide on May 23.

Local resident U Kyaw Myint said that nearly 300 itinerant workers were mining yesterday morning in the immediate vicinity of the deadly landslide, which killed at least 14 miners and left at least 200 missing.

“People were mining at the place where the landslide occurred,” he said yesterday. “I was amazed. They were digging at the top of the landslide area. We cannot ban them. There is no one to ban them.”

Business Investment Opportunities in Myanmar (Burma)

The Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar warmly invites responsible investors to seek and seize business opportunities in Myanmar to accelerate sustainable economic growth.

Seize Investment Opportunities in Myanmar …
… in AGRICULTURE

YSX Second Stock Exchange Listing Jumps 25% on First Day

The share price of Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Limited (MTSH) rose 25 percent during its first day of trading on May 20 after the company became the second to list on the Yangon Stock Exchange.

After launching at a base price of K40,000, the share value quickly reached its upper limit, closing the day at K50,000. Demand outweighed supply by more than 100 times, with bids totalling almost 600,000 shares, officials said.

The company listed 3.9 million shares but did not raise any new capital. Securities house CB Securities, which led the deal, valued the company at K40,500 according to an announcement last week.

On May 20 the YSX also unveiled a new index – Myanmar Stock Price Index, or Myanpix – which will represent price moves in the market. It is weighted according to market capitalisation, meaning that moves in larger companies will carry greater weight.

Officials from the newly listed MTSH said on May 20 that they plan to cut shareholder dividends this year, to invest more capital into their flagship project, a special economic zone in Thilawa, near Yangon.

The company, established in 2013 by a nine-shareholder consortium, paid a 20pc dividend on the par value of its shares last year, or K2000 for each share.

In early 2014, over-the-counter shares were sold for K10,000 each.

MTSH makes most of its income from two subsidiaries. Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development manages the marketing, sales and operations for the first stage of Thilawa SEZ, Zone A, while Thilawa Property Development, set up in early 2015, handles the construction, sale and management of residential and commercial areas.

This year, MJTD will reinvest its profits into the project’s second phase, Zone B, according to company documents.

“We will need more capital over the next two years once we have started work on Zone B, perhaps as soon as the end of this year,” said MJTD chair U Thurane Aung. The board has not yet decided whether to raise new capital through the exchange or take out a loan, he said.

Zone A has been a success, he added, with around 86 percent of its 400 hectares already sold. Zone B will cover 7000 hectares including an industrial zone.

“We can reach our target profits if the market, foreign investment and policy does not change too much,” he said.

At the stock exchange launch, MTSH chair U Win Aung urged caution when buying his company’s shares. “Our securities companies have come up with a realistic [valuation]. We want investors to make sure they understand, and not to buy shares with urgency.”

Demand for shares in First Myanmar Investment, which listed on the exchange last month, picked up on May 20 and the company saw its share price jump 17pc to K31,000.

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Where to eat in Yangon : Pork Stick at Zephyr

It’s enough to get tummies rumbling with hunger: the smell of well-boiled pig viscera. Even casual passers-by turn their heads and start salivating when they catch a whiff of intestines, placentas, ears and other parts as they are removed from the boiled soup.

This is the scene of where to eat in Yangon at the pork-stick shop run by Zephyr Restaurant at Sein Lann So Pyay Garden. Set in a grove of cool trees under a hut beside Inya Lake, the shop offers a bit of peace and quiet for pork-stick lovers, but the delicacy can also be ordered from Zephyr’s regular tables situated nearby.

There are two boiled pork-stick pots and one fried pork-stick pot. The price is K200 for each stick, while small and large plates run K5000 and K10,000 respectively.