Myanmar’s foreign investment dream is over
The sudden seizure of power by the military in Myanmar in early February has ended a ten-year investment window into what was believed to be a newly opening nation in Southeast Asia, analysts say.
However, the latest coup in Myanmar, coupled with the country’s stalled financial market opening, means global funds and investors have little choice but to avoid the nation which out of a sudden has become “uninvestable.”
Investors who were beginning to show interest in the frontier market of Myanmar are now thrown off course by the abrupt detention of the country’s civilian leaders, including State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, and the uncertainty of what lies ahead, politically and economically.
A number of investors, among them Japanese brewery Kirin and Singaporean tycoon Lim Kaling, a board member of technology firm Razer, are pulling out of the country. Large foreign telecom firms, namely Telenor and Ooredoo, have also come under pressure with the latest Internet shutdown ordered by the military.
Japanese corporate investors in Myanmar, including retail giant Aeon and automotive companies such as Toyota and Denso, as well as conglomerate Mitsubishi, are also assessing the situation in Myanmar closely. Thailand’s industrial estate developer Amata said it has suspended work on a project in Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.
Other investors re-evaluating their status are South Korea’s Posco International, a steel maker, trading company Pan-Pacific and construction firm Inno Group, as well as and China’s Wanbao Mining, among others.
Coup has made Myanmar “uninvestable,” according to analysts
Analysts expect that Myanmar will be “untouchable” and “uninvestable” for at least a year, or as long as the emergency state is upheld.
Myanmar’s stock market, which was just in the process of being opened to foreign investors, is also expected to go in hibernation given the current situation, which is exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Rohingya crisis.
US credit rating agency Fitch labeled the situation in Myanmar as “a substantial backtracking” of the democratic process in the country in recent years, which will “weigh heavily on policy making and social stability, as well as international perceptions of the country,” an assessment which does not bode well with investors.
The sudden seizure of power by the military in Myanmar in early February has ended a ten-year investment window into what was believed to be a newly opening nation in Southeast Asia, analysts say. However, the latest coup in Myanmar, coupled with the country’s stalled financial market opening, means global funds and investors have little choice but to avoid the nation which out of a sudden has become "uninvestable." Investors who were beginning to show interest in the frontier market of Myanmar are now thrown off course by the abrupt detention of the country's civilian leaders, including State Councilor Aung...
The sudden seizure of power by the military in Myanmar in early February has ended a ten-year investment window into what was believed to be a newly opening nation in Southeast Asia, analysts say.
However, the latest coup in Myanmar, coupled with the country’s stalled financial market opening, means global funds and investors have little choice but to avoid the nation which out of a sudden has become “uninvestable.”
Investors who were beginning to show interest in the frontier market of Myanmar are now thrown off course by the abrupt detention of the country’s civilian leaders, including State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, and the uncertainty of what lies ahead, politically and economically.
A number of investors, among them Japanese brewery Kirin and Singaporean tycoon Lim Kaling, a board member of technology firm Razer, are pulling out of the country. Large foreign telecom firms, namely Telenor and Ooredoo, have also come under pressure with the latest Internet shutdown ordered by the military.
Japanese corporate investors in Myanmar, including retail giant Aeon and automotive companies such as Toyota and Denso, as well as conglomerate Mitsubishi, are also assessing the situation in Myanmar closely. Thailand’s industrial estate developer Amata said it has suspended work on a project in Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.
Other investors re-evaluating their status are South Korea’s Posco International, a steel maker, trading company Pan-Pacific and construction firm Inno Group, as well as and China’s Wanbao Mining, among others.
Coup has made Myanmar “uninvestable,” according to analysts
Analysts expect that Myanmar will be “untouchable” and “uninvestable” for at least a year, or as long as the emergency state is upheld.
Myanmar’s stock market, which was just in the process of being opened to foreign investors, is also expected to go in hibernation given the current situation, which is exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Rohingya crisis.
US credit rating agency Fitch labeled the situation in Myanmar as “a substantial backtracking” of the democratic process in the country in recent years, which will “weigh heavily on policy making and social stability, as well as international perceptions of the country,” an assessment which does not bode well with investors.
