Myanmar, Singapore to cooperate in banking supervision

Banking authorities of Myanmar and Singapore have agreed to cooperate in banking supervision and capacity building, an official report said Tuesday.

The move will be made under a memorandum of understanding signed between the Central Bank of Myanmar and the Monetary Authority of Singapore at their 5th Myanmar-Singapore Joint Ministerial Working Committee Meeting resumed here Monday.

The joint meeting exchanged views on developing an inter-bank funding market as well as deepening technical cooperation in banking and capital market supervision.

The meeting also touched upon business environment for foreign investors, urban development strategy, transportation and logistics, food and agriculture, expansion of air connectivity, development of small and medium enterprises.

The long-paused Myanmar-Singapore joint ministerial meeting resumed here days after Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean visited Myanmar, during which Myanmar and Singapore reiterated working for promoting bilateral economic ties, especially in development of human resources and cooperation in the financial sector.

The joint ministerial working committee was established in 1995 as a platform to promote bilateral economic cooperation and forge new business opportunities.

Singapore and Myanmar enjoyed strong economic link with bilateral trade growing steadily in recent years.

In 2014, bilateral trade rose by 6.6 percent year-on-year to reach 3.23 billion Singapore dollars. Myanmar moved up eight places to become Singapore's 29th largest trading partner in 2014, while Singapore was Myanmar's 3rd largest trading partner in 2013.

Singapore is also Myanmar's third largest foreign investor with a cumulative investment of 10.23 billion U.S. dollars since 1988 as of May 2015, standing after China and Thailand. Endi