Apr. 11 – Singapore-Myanmar economic ties were further bolstered this week thanks to the opening of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore’s Overseas Center in Yangon, Myanmar. The center opened during the Singapore-Myanmar Business Forum with support from the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI). In addition, five private sector pacts consisting of three agreements and two Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) in the telecommunications, hospitality, consumer and business services sectors were signed.
The Forum, which was held on April 4, provided more than 100 government and business leaders from both countries with a platform to explore potential business collaboration opportunities across the infrastructure development, telecommunications, financial services and hospitality industries.
The center was established to assist with trade opportunities and to increase investment opportunities in various sectors, including the key industrial and urban development, transport and logistic centers. The center will also aid and support Myanmar-based firms that are keen to expand into Singapore and the rest of Asia.
“Many Singaporean companies in Myanmar today have their sights set on opportunities across a range of sectors, and having a presence on the ground will convert this interest into concrete projects in key sectors. [The establishment of the center] will give them a crucial edge in this increasingly competitive market,” stated Teo Eng Cheong, IE Singapore’s CEO.
Furthermore, Singapore’s National Development Minister, Khaw Boon Wan, guaranteed that the tourism industry would boom between Singapore and Myanmar, and also pledged to set up a vocational center to train hospitality workers. He also reaffirmed Forum participants that business between the two countries would surge and that both governments were working to further deepen their collaborative efforts.
Currently, Singapore is Myanmar’s third-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached S$1.8 billion (US$1.5 billion) in 2012, up from S$1.6 billion (US$1.3 billion) in 2011. Singapore is also the sixth largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Myanmar, having invested over S$4.4 billion (US$3.6 billion) as of the end of 2011.
For further information regarding the partnerships that were signed during the Singapore-Myanmar Business Forum, please see here.
