Roundup: Myanmar's NLD government handles changes well in first year's tenure, says official

The government of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has handled changes well in its first year's tenure, said Director General of the State Counselor's Office U Zaw Htay.

Except the issues of Rakhine state and northern Shan state, all other changes were handled properly, U Zaw Htay told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday.

With regard to international relations, the NLD government was able to continue to adopt the country's traditional foreign policy and even made it more dynamic, he said.

The main achievement of its foreign policy is the total removal of U.S. sanctions while maintaining good relations with countries in the region, including China, Japan, South Korea and India, he said.

Myanmar's foreign policy since it regained independence is independent, active, neutral and non-aligned that conforms to its geographical status, national strength and international relations, he said.

As for the domestic peace process, U Zaw Htay said the NLD government has made utmost efforts and scored certain achievements.

"The peace process is full of challenges, it should continue to endeavor and good outcome will come soon," U Hla Maung Shwe from the government's Peace Commission said.

Currently, efforts are being made for the non-signatory armed groups to the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) to join the signing, he said.

The second meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference is to be convened in April or May.

The new government was able to hold the first meeting of the Panglong Peace Conference in 2016 with political dialogues at national level having taken place in Kayin, Tanintharyi, Bago, Shan and Chin states and regions as well as Nay Pyi Taw Council Area.

Economically, though the NLD government made some progress in the first year tenure, it still needs time to promote the overall economic development, economists and entrepreneurs said.

The most apparent changes in the sphere were the NLD government was able to lay down economic policy, promulgate the new investment law and work for lifting economic sanctions.

Myanmar's economic growth slowed down to 6.5 percent in the fiscal year 2016-17 from 7.3 percent in the previous fiscal year as shown in a World Bank report.

Dr. Soe Tun from the Rice Dealers' Association quoted State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi as saying that although the government was able to work for the removal of economic sanctions, the economic status of the country did not improve apparently.

Vice Chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Maung Maung Lay told Xinhua that the government needs time for revival of economy as everything is not in place yet.

According to the announcement of the Central Bank of Myanmar, the country's annual inflation rate stands at 7.99 percent. In 2016, the rate was 6.93 percent with the exchange rate going up to as high as 1,400 kyats per U.S. dollar in December.

The government was able to control the hike of the dollar exchange rate at the end of 2016 while introducing measures in carefully spending the budget to help bring down the inflation rate, economist U Khin Maung Nyo said.

As for foreign investment, it was projected to reach 6 billion U.S. dollars in the financial year 2016-17 but it has attained 6.8 billion dollars as of the first week of March, the end of the financial year, according to the Investment Commission.

In 2015-16, the foreign investment was over 9 billion USD, thanks to the investment in the energy sector.

However, in the tenure of the new government, the foreign investment mostly went to the sectors of communications, manufacturing, infrastructure and construction rather than energy, said Deputy Director General of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration U Than Aung Kyaw.

In the stock exchange sector, the taxation law grants relaxation of income tax with listed companies, benefiting the investors in the sector.

Myanmar's first Yangon Stock Exchange started operation in March 2016 with only one listed company but it had four as of March this year. Two more companies are in a preparatory stage to join in.

Given challenges in the economic sector, the government also suffered export drop in natural gas and agricultural produce.

Economists expect that the country's economic development will gain momentum in the 2017-18 fiscal year based on experiences of the past year. Endit