The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has received 24 project proposals with US$3.5 billion in investment, but they have yet to be approved as government ministries cannot give their permission during the transition period, said Thant Sin Lwin, director general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration. 

“The new government will be the ruling NLD (National League for Democracy). But we have been instructed that when the government changes, we have to do things systematically for the whole five-year term. We still need assessments from relevant ministries and committees. This is why our commission cannot issue permits for those investment projects. Actually, all things have been in place. After coordination with the ministries and decisions from relevant committees, we will assess and approve them. I think we will be able to announce soon,” said the director general.  

“For the 2020-2021 fiscal year, there are 24 project proposals our commission has received. They are worth US$3.5 billion,” he added.  

In the five-year term of the incumbent government, Myanmar received over US$25.3 billion in foreign direct investment, mostly in manufacturing and transport and communication sectors, according to MIC. 

Those investments were also made in other sectors such as housing development, energy, hotel and tourism, livestock and fisheries, industrial zone development, oil and gas, agriculture, mining and other services.