The Nation (9/6/98)business news

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News headlines
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1:)Asian recession brakes foreign stakes in Burma
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Asian recession brakes foreign stakes in Burma

The Asian financial and economic crisis has sharply slowed foreign direct
investment (FDI) in Burma with enterprises planned by Thai, Malaysian and
Singapore investors put on hold for one year, according to a senior Burmese
official.
Speaking at a seminar on new members of Asean in Vientiane, Thinn Maung,
director of Burma's Department of foreign Investment, the Ministry of
National Planning and Economic Development, said the Asian crisis had first
seen investors from Thailand and Malaysia seeking a delay in their projects
and more recently Singaporean investors had done likewise.
	Singapore is the largest Asean investor in Burma with 66 enterprises worth
a total of US$ 1.48 billion approved by Rangoon as of May 31. Thailand and
Malaysia, the second and third largest Asean investors, has got approval
for 42 enterprises and 25 enterprises worth $1.23 billion and $587 million
respectively as of same date. 
	Thinn Maung said investors wanted to delay starting their enterprises by
one year. According to official statistics, the approved Asean investment
in Burma totaled $3.69 billion (143 enterprises) as of the end of May,
accounting for slightly more than half of total FDIs in that country.
	However, Dr Mohd Haflah Piei of the Malaysian Institute of Economic
Research, noted that it was difficult to differentiate between realised
FDIs and the FDI inflow based on approval by the authorising agencies in
new members of Asean, Combodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam.
	"There are strong reasons to believe that the realisation rates of FDIs in
these countries are as low as 20-30 per cent," he said.
	The bulk of FDIs in Burma, about 40 per cent, went to the hotel and
tourism industry, while oil and gas exploration accounted for 30 per cent
and manufacturing 10-15 per cent, according to Piei. 

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