• Bill Analysis: Prevention and Protection of Violence Against Women Bill

    Posted in Legislative Research on Feb 19, 2020

    Note that these points are not comprehensive, but offer some critical reflections designed to raise awareness about the Bill and encourage further discussion. There are many dedicated specialist women’s rights groups in Myanmar who can offer greater insights.

  • Policy Briefing: Prevention of Violence Against Women

    Posted in Legislative Research on Feb 14, 2020

    The difficulties of legislating to protect women from violence are rooted in the fact that very often they directly challenge strongly held cultural beliefs, and patriarchal power. The list below is not comprehensive, but points to some of the tensions and challenges that policymakers and legislators may face when crafting such laws.

  • Backgrounder & Summary: Prevention and Protection of Violence Against Women Bill

    Posted in Legislative Research on Feb 05, 2020

    Myanmar is currently using the Penal Code to protect women against violence, two-thirds of which occurs in the home, yet there is not a separate law. The current bill posted on the website of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw has been in development since at least 2013.

  • Bill Analysis: Foreign Exchange Management Bill

    Posted in Legislative Research on Jan 31, 2020

    The bill precisely defines ‘standard’ and ‘non-standard’ gold. As for the latter, a permit from the CBM is not needed for personal use, and the direct trading in the country. Nevertheless, a permit is required for exporting/importing (and renting/borrowing within the country).

  • An Overview of the Two Constitution Amendment Bills currently before the Hluttaw (1)

    Posted in Legislative Research on Jan 30, 2020

    The two bills’ proposed amendments are identical to the 114 suggestions previously given to the Joint Amending Committee by the NLD, precisely representing the ruling party’s agenda. Of the 2008 Constitution’s 15 Chapters and appendix Schedules, only Chapter 2: State Structure; Chapter 15: General Provisions, and; Schedules are not proposed for amendment. There is only one terminological amendment in Chapter 10: Political Parties, and one amendment related to the national flag in Chapter 13: State Flag, State Seal, National Anthem and the Capital.

  • Policy Briefing - Central Banks

    Posted in Legislative Research on Jan 29, 2020

    A central bank is a financial institution that has control over the production and distribution of money and credit for a nation (or a group of nations). In modern economies, the central bank is usually responsible for monetary policy, and the regulation of banks.

  • Policy Briefing: Microfinance

    Posted in Legislative Research on Jan 27, 2020

    As the name suggests, microfinance refers to small (micro) loans (finance). It is most strongly associated with rural development due to the seasonal nature of agriculture and the importance of credit for farmers, where finance is used for: seasonal production inputs, long-term investments, regular consumption needs, unplanned consumption needs and meeting other outstanding debts.

  • Bill Summary: Foreign Exchange Management Bill

    Posted in Legislative Research on Jan 23, 2020

    The bill includes provisions and regulations for trading and holding of foreign exchange, gold and jewelry, and transfers and payments of current and capital accounts.

  • Backgrounder: Foreign Exchange Management Bill

    Posted in Legislative Research on Jan 23, 2020

    The Foreign Exchange Acceptor & Holder License is issued to government departments, cooperatives and individuals to conduct foreign exchange, provided they are already have a business license. (Note that in addition to business registration through DICA, a range of other licenses are issued by different departments enabling companies to do business in different sectors.) 1501 licences were issued in 2014-2015, and 865 in 2015-2016. However, the license was revoked in the late months of 2015 with an announcement that paying for goods and services should only be with Myanmar currency (Kyat), and also aiming to reduce the use of cash.

  • Policy Briefing - Public Procurement

    Posted in Budget Transparency, Legislative Research on Jan 22, 2020

    Most of the well-established principles and procedures for managing public procurement are concenred with reducing the risk of corruption. ‘Government procurement involves a high risk of corruption because of the great size of financial turnover and the complexity of many procurement processes in which businesses interact very closely with politicians and civil servants. Often the personal interests of the public officials are not the same as the interests of the public.