First Coordination Meeting (1/2021) of Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations held

The First Coordination Meeting of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations aimed to enhance the investment promotion activities to contribute to national economic recovery agendas, to coordinate and address the implementation constraints faced during the realization of the action plan of investment promotion and facilitation led by MoIFER, and to coordinate and cooperate effectively for loan and grant projects and to enhance the regional cooperation was held at the ministry yesterday morning.
In his opening remarks, Union Minister U Aung Naing Oo urged all levels of officials to implement the Ministry’s policies and strategies based on Myanmar’s investment policies, laws and regulations, and that also should be aligned with 5 Roadmaps and 9 objectives of the State Administration Council. He also said that the Ministry needs to support, without any delay, the permitted investments by the previous government that benefit the country, and to facilitate the issuing process of investment permits with transparent, predictable and consistent procedures.
He also updated the status of the drafting process of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for One-Stop Services (OSS) under the Myanmar Investment Commission and further efforts to streamline and simplify the procedures of investment-related business licences, permits and recommendations issued by the relevant ministries and agencies in accordance with types of business and services. In addition, he underscored that the Ministry would support and coordinate with the line ministries and agencies for the continuation of the permitted investment by the previous government, which are delayed in some reasons.
He spotlighted that the global investment trend has been significantly declining since 2020 due to the reverse effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic. And he added that the challenges can be transformed into opportunities through valiant and united efforts in the reforming process for the development of the country.
He also expressed that the government to protect the investors in accordance with the existing national laws and regulations, bilateral investment agreements, regional agreements; and will assist the investors in boosting the business expansion.
After that, U Than Aung Kyaw, Deputy Minister for the Investment and Foreign Economic Relations explained the detailed programmes to be implemented by the Ministry.
As per the agenda, Union Minister awarded the officials who received outstanding awards from the training of the Civil Service Academy, the drafting team for SOPs of One-Stop Service (OSS) and the best employee awards from the ministry and the State and Region offices of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA).
Then, U Thant Sin Lwin, Director-General of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) and officials from State and Regiona offices of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) presented their activities for investment promotion, facilitation and future plans for the economic development of the State and Regions. Following this, the Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Economic Relations Department (FERD) reported on the matters relating to the current departmental administrative functions, the regional cooperation with ASEAN plus one FTA partners, the cooperation with United Nations and international organizations, and the status of facilitation on coordination activities between implementing government agencies and development partners for the development assistance projects. Dr Wah Wah Maung, Director-General of the Ministry presented the on-going activities and future programmes of the Ministry and Departments, and followed by the Union Minister’s closing remarks.
The meeting was attended by Union Minister, Deputy Minister, the Director-Generals, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Deputy Director-General and the senior officials from departments and the State and Region offices under the Ministry.—MNA