Parliament aims to boost investor confidence

Parliament aims to boost investor confidence

By Aye Thida Kyaw   |   Monday, 01 July 2013

New laws on banking, special economic zones, competition, patent rights and intellectual property will be considered in this session of parliament

A worker at Toyota's new service shop in Yangon polishes a vehicle. New legislation protecting businesses could result in more investment from Japanese conglomerates, legal experts say. Photo: Boothee

A collection of laws that aim to earn the trust of international investors will be debated during this sitting of parliament, officials said last week.

Laws that will govern the central bank and special economic zones have been completed and will be submitted to parliament soon, said Pyithu Hluttaw representative U Aye Mauk, who is also secretary of the lower house's planning and financial development committee.

However, other legislation on intellectual property, fair competition and patent rights is still being drafted and will be submitted by the relevant ministries when ready, he said.

Tatsuo Murao, a Japanese lawyer and a founder of Cast Consulting (Myanmar), said the new legislation will encourage Japanese giants like Toyota, Nissan and Honda to set up subsidiaries here.

He said there are two reasons why they remain shy about Myanmar: inadequate infrastructure; and undeveloped laws and regulations, and administration systems, to protect intellectual property rights.

Infrastructure can be improved within a few years, but protection of intellectual property will take more time.

Legal reform is long overdue, Mr Marao said, pointing out that the Myanmar Companies Act has not been updated since it was promulgated in 1914 during the colonial period.

U Thein Aung, a lawyer for Myanmar Patent and Trademark law firm in Yangon, who is also involved in writing the intellectual property draft law, said the government must move quickly to protect intellectual property by passing laws and training governmental staff to enforce them. The foreign investment law enacted last November, with the accompanying rules and regulations laid out in January, was only a start, he added.

"Some information concerning intellectual property is included in this law, but there is a need to promulgate the IP law immediately."

Copyright, trademark and arbitration legislation is out of date, U Thein Aung said. "It is not enough to modify old laws. We need to make news ones."

Mr Muao said some Japanese executives "have the misunderstanding" that Myanmar lacks a legal and regulatory framework for business.

The problem is not the lack of legislation but its complexity, he added. Myriad laws and regulation were drafted in "different periods and against different backgrounds".

"Some laws of the Burma Code [based on] common law remain valid, along with laws and regulations established during each sitting of the Union Parliament, the socialist regime, the military regime and the current government."

Mr Murao described the lack of laws to protect intellectual property as a "huge barrier" to investment.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a private sector lobby group of associations representing more than 3,200 US copyright-based companies, agrees.

It called for close examination of intellectual property rights in Myanmar as well as market access to trade in copyright-related goods and services, as part of the review of Myanmar's bid for inclusion in the US generalised system of preferences (GSP).

"The GSP review … should include gaining an understanding of how [Myanmar] will provide creative industries, including film, music, games, books and journals, and software the ability to do business in the country," it said at a public hearing on the GSP in Washington on June 4.

One criteria for deciding whether a country is eligible for GSP benefits is "the extent to which such country is providing adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights", it told the hearing.

Mr Murao said protection of Japanese firms' IP will lead to more

investment in and technoloy transfers to small- and-medium-sized enterprises here, which he identified as the force of change in Myanmar.

Myanmar, like ASEAN's other developing members, must upgrade technological competence so it can reduce its reliance on imports, he added.

Restricting imports will be difficult for Myanmar since it is party to international trade agreements that prevent protectionism, Mr Murao said.

About 100 Japanese businesses have set up representative offices here but most are just investigating the market, he said.

Japanese firms are interested in manufacturing, trading and logistics, construction and large infrastructure projects, he added.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/07/03/parliament-aims-to-boost-investor-confidence/