Myanmar 01 (Sep 08 - Jan 23)

[kennynah]

one monkey should think he knows myanmar like his 50sqft shoebox apartment back home

[winston]

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Doug Clayton visited Rangoon (Yangon) and wrote about it in his newsletter (it is available free at www.leopardasia.com – well worth the visit).

Doug notes that Burma has the largest landmass in mainland Southeast Asia and big fertile river deltas. It has 1,240 miles of uninterrupted coastline, deep-water port sites on the strategic Indian Ocean, plus 600 little-used tropical islands.

As home to more than 2,000 pagodas and temples and miles of pristine beaches, Burma could support a larger tourism business.

"From my own wanderings in both countries," Doug concludes, "I would rate Myanmar's long-term tourism potential just as strong as Thailand's – which draws 14 million tourists a year, versus Myanmar's 300,000."

The comparison with Thailand is hard to miss, and Doug pursues it further. "To comprehend Myanmar's potential, look over the border at Thailand, a country of comparable size and population," Doug continues.

"Around the time of World War II, colonial Burma's economy and development surpassed Thailand's." Since then, though, Thailand's economy is now 10 times bigger than Myanmar's.

Doug reckons that "the gap between these historical peers seems likely to narrow as Myanmar introduces a political system more similar to Thailand's."

[winston]

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This is essentially the motive force behind the "world right side up" idea – this narrowing of historically anomalous large gaps in development to a world more in tune with longer historical experience (and hence, right side up).

One of the books I read over the holidays was Thant Myint-U's Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia. Thant continues the theme.

Rangoon was once the rich capital of British Burma. It was an exporter of rice, timber, and oil. "By the late 1920s," Thant writes, "Rangoon exceeded New York as the greatest immigrant port in the world… Rangoon became a hub for all of Asia."

By the 1930s, Burma's economy, on a per capita basis, was at least twice that of China's. Today, China's is about six times as great. That is a gap that ought to narrow as Burma opens up.

Simple geography also anchors Burma's importance. It sits between China and India like a hinge. It is a big country, the size of France, with 60 million people. Thant makes Burma's unique position clear. If you draw a 700-mile radius around Mandalay, Burma's second-largest city, you encompass a population of 700 million people — nearly one in 10 of all the people on the planet.

It is a natural crossroads. Already, work has begun on a network of pipelines and highways and railways – all with Burma as the bridge to the two potentially biggest markets on earth, China and India.

[winston]

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"There will be opportunities to invest," Alex told me. Indeed, he's already seeing investors line up. In the next several months, new funds will launch.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange announced it would help Myanmar develop its stock market. Many companies are already trying to elbow their way in Burma.

These are mostly Asian companies, as they are not covered by the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe. But some Western companies are already making inroads. Unilever sells soap and soup.

Caterpillar, too, has a business there. And a few are still there as exceptions to the sanctions, such as the French oil giant Total.

Overwhelmingly, the foreign investment has focused on oil and gas, mining and power. And Burma's biggest investor has been China. (One Chinese businessman quoted in Thant's book says, "I hope the sanctions last forever."

And why not? It keeps out the competition.) There is plenty of opportunity in basic things like cement and automobiles and hotels.

And it's all just beginning. You should keep an eye on Burma as opportunities open up. It's an exciting time to be an investor as the world turns right side up.

Source: Daily Wealth

[winston]

Besides Yoma Strategic listed on SGX, are there any listed companies out there, with exposure to Myanmar ?

Myanmar lifts rally ban after Suu Kyi's party complains by Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's election authorities Monday said a ministerial order restricting some campaign rallies had been lifted, just hours after Aung San Suu Kyi's party complained its campaigning for upcoming parliamentary by-elections was being stifled.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) contacted Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which boycotted the 2010 election, to tell the party that a ban on the use of sports grounds, which prevented a February 14 rally from taking place, was no longer in effect.

"The UEC has now allowed us to use the facilities earlier banned by sports ministry. We do welcome this news," Han Tha Myint, an NLD central executive committee member, told Reuters.

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[iam802]

Aung San Suu Kyi 'wins landslide landmark election' as Burma rejoices

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... oices.html

[kennynah]

clap clap....

one day, we will rejoice too

Aung San Suu Kyi 'wins landslide landmark election' as Burma rejoices

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... oices.html

[winston]

Templeton Cautions Investors Riding Myanmar, Cambodia Growth By Shamim Adam

Investors should be cautious when pursuing the opportunities for growth present in Myanmar and Cambodia, Southeast Asia’s frontier markets, Templeton Asset Management Ltd. said.

While Myanmar’s natural resources of oil, gas and minerals are positive factors, there are “areas of concern,” Templeton portfolio manager Dennis Lim wrote in a March 31 note on Chairman Mark Mobius’s blog.

“Weaknesses we’re especially mindful of in Myanmar are lack of a proper legal structure, the lack of a well-developed banking system, and the lack of solid foreign exchange operations,” Lim wrote.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-3 ... th-1-.html

[winston]

A few Myanmar themed plays

We identify a few candidates - Super Group (BUY, TP S$2.08), Interra Resources (NR) and Yoma Strategic (NR) - that could offer investors the exposure to Myanmar's growth.

The trio returned an average of +137% YTD (vs. STI's +14%) and could continue to attract investors’ interest on news flow leading to EU’s decision on Myanmar sanction.


Source: DMG

[winston]

Interview with South Kore's President on CNBC:-

Wages in Myanmar are half of the Chinese.