The Irrawaddy
Poverty Decreases, But Rural Areas Slower to Develop: Report
The number of people in Myanmar living in poverty has decreased from 32 percent of the population in 2004 to 19 percent in 2015, according to a recent report. The World Bank and the Ministry of Planning and Finance analyzed data on living conditions from ...
Thu Thu Aung and Rik Glauert
Legality of Mon State Cement Factory’s Power Plant Questioned
A controversial 500-ton cement factory in Mon State’s Kyaikmayaw Township has not sought permission from the Ministry of Electricity and Energy in order to generate power, according to the ministry. The US$400 million cement factory run by Mawlamyine Cement Limited (MCL) –a joint venture between ...
Myanmar will join Asian forest cooperation organization
The Union Parliament on Tuesday approved the signing of the regional agreement for the establishment of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization, after President U Htin Kyaw put forward the proposal. Burma’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation presented the proposal to Parliament last month. The organization was ...
Hearing Myanmar: teaching artistry in Yangon
Community music center Gitameit’s brand new three-story building has just been finished. It sits with fresh concrete and sparkling glass right beside the center’s old, slightly ramshackle building in a small plot on a quiet road of Yangon’s Yankin Township. Gitameit’s music library—a collection of records, ...
Former exiled news outlets granted licenses for state media channel
Two former exiled news outlets—the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima—have been selected to run their own digital channels in Burma under the state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV). In late 2016, the Ministry of Information (MOI) put out a call to local companies ...
China says accord reached at last with Myanmar on oil pipeline
China and Myanmar have reached an agreement on an oil pipeline between the neighboring countries after almost a decade of talks, with the project due to start “very quickly,” Chinese vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin said on Monday. The new oil gateway fits with China’s “One ...
Critics skeptical of new privacy legislation
Myanmar’s newly enacted privacy and security protection law received skepticism from several civil society groups that said the legislation was “incomplete” and failed to fully ensure the protection of individuals’ privacy and freedom of expression as it was adopted hastily and without public consultation. The ...
Earthquake jolts Yangon region, injures 24
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Bago and Yangon divisions on Monday evening, injuring 24 people and damaging some religious buildings in Taik Kyi Township. No severe casualties have been reported. Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported that the epicenter of the quake was about 8 ...
Forest department investigates sizeable seizures of smuggled timber
The forest department has launched an internal investigation in response to sizeable seizures of smuggled timber since late January. On Jan. 24, authorities seized more than 30 tons of smuggled teak from two containers at the Myanmar Industrial Port in Yangon. Further investigations led to ...
Local protesters block road to Letpadaung copper mine
The Sagaing Division chief minister will likely visit the controversial Letpadaung copper mine later this week after protesters prevented vehicles from leaving the compound on February 21 and demanded the mine cease operations. “We blocked five trucks carrying copper from leaving the mine,” U Pho La ...
