Myanmar Investment Commission

Overview

The Myanmar Investment Commission (Burmese: မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ရင်းနှီးမြှုပ်နှံမှု ကော်မရှင်, abbreviated MIC) is a government-appointed body formerly under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations that appraises domestic investment proposals in Myanmar (Burma). The Myanmar Investment Commission is now under the Ministry of National Planning, Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. MIC was formed in April 1994, after the State Law and Order Restoration Council issued the Myanmar Citizens Investment Law. In 2000, MIC underwent organisational changes to reduce the number of committee members to four. MIC also manages the 1988 Foreign Investment Law. The body was re-established in 2016 as an 11-member committee to scrutinise economic proposals.

History

A new set of reforms (2012) drafted for the Myanmar investment law included a proposal to transform the Myanmar Investment Commission from a government-appointed body into an independent board. This could bring greater transparency to the process of issuing investment licenses, according to the proposed reforms drafted by experts and senior officials. The current key positions, however, are still held by senior government officials, including ministers and their deputies. In March 2020, Distributed Denial of Secrets published 156 gigabytes of data hacked from the Myanmar Investment Commission. The leak revealed how millions of dollars allegedly flowed from Mytel subscribers to Myanmar military generals, and exposed business dealings of family members of prominent military leaders.

Organisation

The new commission was formed by SAC Chairman Min Aung Hlaing in 2021.

Moe Myint Tun (Chairman) - member of SAC Aung Naing Oo (Vice Chairman) - Union minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Khin Maung Yee (Member) - Union minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Dr Thida Oo (Member) - Attorney General Nyunt Aung (Member) - Deputy minister of Commerce Win Thaw (Member) - Vice chairman of Central Bank Kyaw Min Oo (Member) - Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Min Htut (Member) - Director General of Internal Revenue Department (Ministry of Planning and Finance) Thant Sin Lwin (Secretary) - Director General of Directorate of Investment & Company Administration (Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations)

Designation of Development Zone

The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) designated 3 development zones on 22 February 2017 for purposes of income tax exemption and relief. The established zones 1, 2 and 3 refer to the less developed regions, moderate developed regions and developed regions, respectively. The investment in the designated zone 1, which comprises the less developed regions, will receive tax exemption for 7 years. There is a 5 years of tax exemption for the moderated developed regions, and 3 years for the developed regions. The classification of zones is defined based on the township administrative division. The classification of zone can be updated periodically through MIC notifications. For example, 13 among 45 townships of Yangon region ( Dala, Dawmu, Thongwa, etc.) are designed as moderated developed zone and other townships falls into developed zone. It is notable that the township of Dawei Special Economic Zone, the third established SEZ of Myanmar is designed to zone 1 as the less develop regions.

References

4.Taipei American Chamber of Commerce; Topics Magazine, Analysis, November 2012. "Myanmar: Southeast Asia's Last Frontier for Investment: [1]