Must go Myanmar
Navigating Southeast Asia’s final frontier
With Myanmar continuously liberalising the regulatory and supervisory landscape, new opportunities arise not only for cross land-border trade and investment, most notably with China and India which share borders with Myanmar and have the highest populations in the world, but also for regional and international trade.
Although Myanmar became a member of the World Customs Organization (WCO) in 1991 and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995, only its more recent economic opening is starting to create some real opportunities for businesses and allowing businesses to reap benefits from its membership of those organisations.
In line with the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), Myanmar has implemented an online customs clearance system: the Myanmar Automated Cargo Clearance System (MACCS). This was introduced in 2016. The MACCS has been implemented in both the Seaport and Airport of Yangon and in Myawaddy (Kayin State) at the Thai-Myanmar border.
Myanmar is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Consequently, it is also a party to various Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that have been concluded between ASEAN as a bloc and third party countries and territories. Increasingly Myanmar businesses are utilising these FTAs, either inbound (utilising preferential duty rates) or outbound (obtaining Myanmar origin certifications for preferential access to overseas markets) to grow and further expand their business operations.
The MACCS helps Myanmar achieve its ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) commitments, as Myanmar is required to implement ASEAN Single Window Access for faster import and export customs clearance.
Myanmar services include:
Ruben Zorge
Assistant Manager, Myanmar, PwC Asia Pacific Customs and Trade
Tel: +95 9 79064 8780