"Investment Bill Criticised", 22 March 2015

Civil societies organisations (CSOs) have criticised the new investment bill for not including provisions on issues like environmental damage caused by projects and action to be taken over land use. The CSOs raised their concerns at the consultation on the Myanmar investment bill held in Yangon on March 20. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development are jointly drafting an investment bill to merge the Foreign Investment Law and the Myanmar Citizens Investment Law.  U Moe from Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) said: “The bill gives protection only to investors. It is true that the bill creates a favourable environment for foreign investors. But it doesn’t include provision about the negative impact on local people and the environmental impacts. The bill also lacks the provision for damage caused by investors. The citizens will have to suffer when a law with no justice takes effect. Currently, the authorities seize land in Palake in the Mandalay Region for investment. It will be very difficult to solve land disputes if provisions are not included in the bill.” Than Than Aye from EarthRights International said: “There are many kinds of land which are under the management of the government. The old law has many sections about it. This draft doesn’t include a clause pertaining to the land being seized in the country. And another point is land-based investment. We worry that a separate mechanism about land may emerge when this investment bill has been enacted.”