Companies that are listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) are expecting to enjoy tax exemptions and other income-related privileges in the near future under the provisions of recent legislation, stakeholder resources said. The 2017 Union Tax Law that was enacted on March 1 incorporates a specific clause to give support to the development of the stock market in Myanmar. The clause comes with a subtitle that reads ‘income tax issues related to the YSX-listed public firms’, stating provisions intended for the progressive future of the bourse.
Government support is crucial to the success of a stock exchange market, said Yin Zaw Myo, managing director at the bourse. According to the Union Tax Law provision, the YSX-listed companies are expected to be granted tax exemption soon, he said.
Subsection (b) of section 31 of the 2017 Union Tax Law prescribes that the Ministry of Planning and Finance is vested with the right to allow the public companies trading on the YSX income tax exemption and other income-related privileges.
Currently there are four companies trading on the YSX. First Myanmar Investment (FMI), one of the earliest business conglomerates in Myanmar, was the first listed firm to enter the YSX on 25 March 2016. Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holding (MTSH) became the second listed company on 20 May 2016. MTSH, a Myanmar consortium comprising nine principal shareholders with the primary (but not exclusive) purpose of participating in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (Thilawa SEZ) project, invests in businesses engaged in real estate development in the country.
Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB), a joint venture between the Ministry of Commerce and the conglomerate Capital Diamond Group, was listed on 26 August 2016. First Private Bank (FPB), established in 1991 to hold the oldest banking licence in Myanmar, entered the Exchange on January 20, 2017 to become the fourth listed company.
Another two companies already chosen to trade on the bourse are yet to come to the Exchange. They are Great Hor Kham, a general contract construction company, and Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation (MAPCO), an agricultural investment firm.
Launched in December 2015 and started trading on 25 March 2016, the YSX is the first ever stock exchange in Myanmar, which had been one of the only three countries in Asia that do not have their own stock exchange until 2015 – the two others being Brunei and North Korea.
