Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a state in South East Asia and borders on Thailand, Laos, the People's Republic of China, India, Bangladesh and the Gulf of Bengali. The country has a population of approximately 59 million, and disposes over substantial reserves of natural gas, wood, copper, precious stones and other raw materials, as well as having large hydropower reserves and expansive agricultural use areas. The economy of Myanmar is predominantly agricultural.

After five decades of military dictatorship, Myanmar has recently been embarking on historical change. Since March 2011, the South East Asian country has a civilian government, which has initiated numerous reforms. In light of the political and economic opening of the country, countless economic delegations have been - and are - flocking to Myanmar from all parts of the world. The influx of foreign direct investments has multiplied over the course of the past two years, with China contributing the lion's share to this increase with investments in the amount of more than US$ 8 billion. Chinese companies are mainly operating in the energy and mining sectors (extraction of precious stones, gold and nickel) in more than 100 investment projects. The development of the new off-shore gas fields in the Gulf of Bengali, as well as new investments in the infrastructural and hydropower segments is likely to result in additional substantial foreign investments in the coming years - also for German companies.

In order to assist foreign investors in their activities in Myanmar, our cooperation partners from Malaysia have opened a branch office in January 2013: LPW Legal Services (Myanmar) Co. Ltd. offers both legal and business consulting services, with the main focus being on investments in the mining, agriculture, telecommunications and production sectors. Please do let us know, if we can support you in any manner in relation to your business interests in Myanmar.

Contacts: Gerhard Manz, Dr Barbara Mayer and Jeff Leong of JLPW (Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia)