The Myanmar Times,  Myanmar’s oldest privately owned English language newspaper, recently quoted several members of Tilleke & Gibbins in a wide-reaching article on the country’s ongoing economic, social, and political reforms.

Asked to comment on Myanmar’s new Companies Law, which came into force on August 1, 2018, Yuwadee Thean-ngarm, director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ Yangon office, discusses the potential for transformative change to the economy that the new law offers. “It will increase investors’ confidence in the country, and the further removal of red tape will allow more investment inflow,” she is quoted as saying. Looking to the broader context, however, Yuwadee acknowledges that “some foreign investors may still be hesitant … due to the situation in the Rakhine state, among other things,” referring to recent events in the country’s northwest.

The law also introduces an online digital registration system for companies—MyCo—on which Sher Hann Chua, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ Bangkok and Yangon offices, was asked for her insight. She is quoted as saying that the new system will make due diligence on prospective local partners easier for foreign investors, and generally improve investor confidence in the country’s business and economic outlook.

Looking to the future, Santhapat Periera, a partner in Tilleke & Gibbins corporate and commercial department specializing in foreign investment in Southeast Asia, identified the lack of regulations governing intellectual property and data protection as areas of concern. However, the outlook remains positive, with Santhapat noting that “[t]here are draft intellectual property laws pending before the Parliament, and it is hoped that these bills will be enacted into law very soon.”

The article, which is available without subscription on the Myanmar Times  website, covers a number of key reforms being introduced as part of the country’s move towards globalization and modernization, drawing on insight from some of the leading professional experts on foreign investment into the jurisdiction.

To find out more about foreign investment into Myanmar, please contact our Yangon office on [email protected].