Myanmar

​​​​​​​​Situated between India and China, Myanmar (formerly Burma) acts as a gateway between the world’s two most populated countries. This country, which has been in isolation for a long time, boasts vast areas of agricultural land, significant hydropower reserves and an abundance of raw materials such as crude oil, gas, copper, wolfram, jade, gemstones and wood. Part of the approximately 3000-kilometre long coastline along the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal has just been opened up and, besides short transportation routes for cargo shipments, it offers enormous potential of developing into a tourist destination.
  
Myanmar has been a member of the WTO since 1995. The country’s competitive edge lies in its labour force with a relatively lower wage level, a partially developed market of 54 million prospective cus­tom­ers and an almost barrier-free access to further parts of the Asia-Pacific region thanks to the country’s membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In addition, Myanmar – having the status of a developing country – is enjoying the EU tariff preferences under the Gen­er­alized System of Preferences. This guarantees duty-free import of products manufactured in Myanmar to the EU.

Although Myanmar has been continuously opening up to the world since the end of 2010 – with a gradual transition from military rule to a parliamentary democracy and an opening market – recent de­vel­op­ments unfortunately point into a different direction. Following the imposition of a state of emergency on 1 February 2021, it now remains to be seen how Myanmar’s political situation and thus also the economic development of the former Burma will develop in the near future.

Since 2014, Rödl & Partner has been supporting companies in their Myanmar engagement with its own office in Yangon. Our services include in particular the legal and tax structuring of your en­gage­ment as well as finance and accounting. Of course, we continue to be here for you in these difficult times. If you have any questions regarding current or planned projects on site, or if you need professional support, please do not hesitate to contact us any time.