Myanmar investigating into real ownership of factories run under names of national
Xinhua / August 06, 2007

Myanmar is investigating into the real ownership of some factories running in the country under the names of local nationals, local media reported Thursday.

Meeting with industrial entrepreneurs recently, Minister of Industry-1 U Aung Thaung has issued directives to these factories, suspected to be operating in fact with foreign investment, to file true report of their ownership, said Friday's local-language Myanmar Times pre-published on Thursday.

However, the minister did not disclose what steps will be taken in this regard when he met with the entrepreneurs in an industrial zone in Yangon.

Foreign investors using the name of local nationals to register as owners for their factory operation are blamed for seeking relief from paying tax and all other expenses in foreign currencies as prescribed for them, while business owners of local nationals make such payment in local currencies according to the prescription.

According to the report, of the 160 garment and shoe factories in operation in Myanmar since late 2003, over 100 are Myanmar nationals-owned, while the rest are run by foreign investors from South Korea, Japan, China, and China's Hong Kong.

Other official report blamed earlier that more than 100 garment factories had closed due to economic sanctions imposed by some Western countries, led by the United States, and the European Union, bringing about loss of jobs of thousands of Myanmar workers.

According to the figures released by the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, contracted foreign investment in Myanmar reached 14.4 billion U.S. dollars since the country opened to such investment in late 1988. These foreign investment, scattered in 408 projects, came from 28 countries and regions, of which Thailand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Malaysia were leading.

Sectorally speaking, manufacturing accounted for 20 percent in the foreign investment.