INVestmeNT opportUNities IN THE 2013 MYANmar VietNam SEA GAMES agriCUltUre TODAY Page 16 Page 18 Page 30 MYANMAR INSIDER THIS MONTH’S INSIDER NEWS ON BUSINESS, LUXURY, REAL ESTATE, LIFESTYLE & LEISURE Volume 1 • Issue 2 • December - January 2014 1200 KYATS INSIDE INSIDER Investing in Rubies p.5 Rubies are unquestionably the most sought after of all the precious gemstones in the world, and amongst the most expensive. There are only a few countries in the world that produce rubies, with Myanmar being the industry leader, generating over 80 percent of the world’s supply of precious rubies. Progress for Ooredoo p.27 PROFESSIONAL INSIDER Digicel Asian Holdings, comprised of the Digicel Group, the First Myanmar Investment Co. Ltd and Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd, has signed an agreement with Ooredoo Myanmar to develop, construct and lease telecommunications towers in MOE KYAW Myanmar. We understand from management sources that detailed terms regarding ownership and capital outlay for the consortium Cover story, P.8 are still being negotiated and will be announced in due time. Five of the Finest - Luxury Bags p.26 Like most things in life, exclusivity leads to desirability. If what you want is not immediately available, then the desire for he tale of how winning a competition in 1997 led to a trip to Manila and a career in the object intensifies until you just need to have it. Such is the accountancy. The Managing Partner of Win Thin & Associates tells the Myanmar Insider of case with beautiful and elegant luxury bags. T his journey to the top of his profession and his view on the tremendous opportunities ahead. www.myanmarinsider.com www.facebook.com/TheMyanmarInsider www.twitter.com/MyanmarInsider INSIDER INFO 2 WWW.MYANMARINSIDER.COM THE MYANMAR INSIDER www.myanmarinsider.com THE MYANMAR INSIDER Volume 1 • Issue 2 • December - January 2014 Welcome to our second and special joint December/January issue. I would like to personally thank all of our readers who took the time to email me with their views and EDITOR IN CHIEF CREATIVE DESIGN & thoughts on the inaugural November issue; we are always keen to receive feedback, as it lets us know what Victor Jeffery LAYOUT people really want to read about. Email: [email protected] Global Integrated Media (HK) Ltd www.globalintmedia.com I can honestly say that the issue was a success, but let’s not rest on our laurels. Although this is still only DEPUTY EDITOR our second issue, we’ve already decided to increase the number of pages to give you a more exciting and Daw Khin Thu Zar Aung ADVERTISING MANAGER informative read, and also make the switch to printing on higher quality glossy paper, so as to further Travis Okar Swe distinguish ourselves from the other journals in town. SUB EDITORS Tel: 09448537776 Kyaw Zaw Shwe Email: [email protected] I sincerely hope that you enjoy the changes and please drop me an email (see left) to let me know what Mark Wayne you think about the Myanmar Insider. ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES STAFF WRITERS Phyo Naing Win As always, happy reading. Naw Thee Zun Tel: 09420011184 Charles Greene [email protected] Vic Jeffery Isaac Malone Crystal Phyu Phyu Thant Tel: 0943188691 COLUMNISTS Tancy Thwel Khaing Zin Jeremy Kloiser-Jones Tel: 095123952 Seamus Donoghue Email: [email protected] MYANMar’S CONTRIBUTORS TRAFFIC MANAGER Jack Sheehan Cristy Villarosa William Greenlee Anthony Parker DIGITAL MANAGER Myint Thandar Kyan Arnel Mojica Shwe Sin Hnin BEST Aung Ko Ko Chit MARKET RESEARCH BUSINESS READ Shalini Mitra MANAGER Malcolm Macpherson Aung Soe San Wes L. Byron Simon Harrall CIRCULATION Chris Pockette Yar Saw Henry Ossafagogfa Brent Potter PUBLISHER John G. Newark Dr Tin Maung Thu Mae Anacay YANGON OFFICE MEDIA DIRECTOR 15-B, Dharma Zedi Road Stephen Jeffery Dagon Township Yangon PHOTO EDITOR Tel:(+951) 526 165 Alistair Kleine Email: [email protected] www.myanmarinsider.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Sam Nguyen REGISTRATION NO: 04771 ART DIRECTOR Timmy Wong Get more information on this issue online www.facebook.com/TheMyanmarInsider www.twitter.com/MyanmarInsider www.myanmarinsider.com Free website advertising links to your home page SUBSCRIBE NOW THE MYANMAR INSIDER IS THE COUNTRY'S PREMIERE MONTHLY JOURNAL DELIVERING YOU TOP CLASS BUSINESS AND TOPICAL NEWS BOTH IN PRINT AND 0NLINE TO SUBSCRIBE Postage + 6 Issues 6,800 Kyats Packing 12 Issues 14,000 Kyats outside Yangon not WWW.MYANMARINSIDER.COM included INSIDER BUSINESS 3 WWW.MYANMARINSIDER.COM A New Breed of “Global Taxman” is Knocking at Your Door By Simon Harrall - Managing Director, Global Fiduciary Solutions (HK) Ltd. anuary 2013 was a cold day in the British no funding limits, Australia and the UK have Virgin Islands (BVI); it was like the day funding caps, so you can over fund a pension Jin 1940s Europe when the Nazis forced (which sounds odd to me). Czechoslovakia into annexation, but this day in Certain types of Hong Kong corporate January the BVI acceded to a treaty of submission pensions have no such limits and in the main for full disclosure of the names and addresses, have no investment restrictions either (anyone as well as the assets of, BVI companies for those can have one), so it doesn’t actually matter people who have nominee (hidden) property where you live and work; Hong Kong has no and cash held by BVI companies. taxes on investment anyway, and pensions in The result has been fines and imprisonment Hong Kong have no limits on what company for the people who have held such BVI companies. can take out the pension - in other words you The “storm troopers” (global taxmen) are marching can have a holding company that doesn’t even to your door, so hide the silverware! This is just the trade, and which then sponsors the corporate beginning of global tax transparency and it’s gone pension. crazy, which includes the new UK computer system These pensions in the main are also exempted (therefore every country’s, by the way), which uses from FATCA. over 50,000 keywords to track down overseas So, let’s not allow the global taxmen to estates of deceased people to garner inheritance knock on our doors and let’s be straight and tax; in fact the UK inland revenue department honest about what we are doing, as well. If have proudly boasted that this computer system it’s good enough for the goose, it’s good for has to date raised over 35M British pounds from the gander. previously unfound inheritance tax payments, If you get stuck, speak to Global Fiduciary yet gain fines were levied in some cases, as well. Solutions Limited or visit www.iglobalwillsregistry. Keep reading, guys and girls, it does get com, as they are both from the same group of better. I promise. companies and, hey, I just remembered that they The US and, to be fair, just about all tax both sponsor Hong Kong corporate pensions gathering countries, have introduced Foreign with overseas investment that attract no taxes, Accounts Tax Compliance Agreements (FATCA), even UK property. which is the same as what happened to the BVI, in all but the way it has been introduced. FATCA is agreement not to tax each other’s pensions… where one country will openly disclose a person’s Yes, it’s true. The deal was struck so that if, tax information to the other; what ever happened say Royal Dutch Shell pensions for example, to privacy laws? invested 50M euros in US Treasury bonds or property development in London or even The Good News France, then the deal is that the pension will In May of 2013, the G20 had a group not be taxed when it sells these holdings (for meeting (an expensive one at that, paid for by huge profits). your hard earned cash). This meeting was to In 2012, France was ordered by the encourage big international corporate pensions European Courts of Justice to repay taxes - so to invest in cross border property development far 10B euros, to foreign corporate pensions and government bonds/gilts (I wonder if Greece that did in fact invest in units and real estate skipped this meeting as, let’s face it, this may be in France, where France had previously a superfluous discussion for them). taxed these pensions wrongly. Oooh la la, Why did the G20 spend so much money the intergovernmental agreement must have encouraging such investment from foreign slipped their mind. corporate pensions? Well, I shall let you in on What does this mean to us, the normal a little known secret: these countries have an people, working hard to build our financial security? Guess what? I have an idea: lets all set up corporate pensions and be exempt from taxes on foreign investment and cross border FATCA meddling… Actually, folks, that’s not so far from reality. The answer may be even simpler than that. Perhaps ask your employer if they have a corporate pension scheme that you can invest more money into and then freely invest (this is normal in some countries), such as in the UK (“SSA pensions”, as they are called). “SSA” means “small self administered”, so you can have a company that takes out a self administered corporate pension depending on where that pension trust is domiciled, such as Hong Kong for example, where there are INSIDER BUSINESS 4 WWW.MYANMARINSIDER.COM Doing Business in Myanmar By Jack Sheehan and William Greenlee, Partners at DFDL yanmar is a highly promising land foreign banks the opportunity to participate in It is expected that the MIC will soon publish years after completing construction of the for businesses and investors, which Myanmar’s banking industry.