Investment office expands to meet demand

Investment office expands to meet demand

By Sandar Lwin   |   Thursday, 19 September 2013

In another sign that investment in Myanmar is picking up, the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration plans to expand its workforce by almost 40 percent to cope with its growing workload, an administrative official has told The Myanmar Times.

It will also open offices in regional and state capitals, with the first of these new branch offices to open in Mandalay in April 2014.

The new recruits are needed to process the growing number of company registration applications and investment proposals from foreign and local companies, admin and accounts department director U Linn Htut said last week.

"The directorate is expanding because its current capacity can't cover the workload. The workload has increased since the investment laws were enacted and now almost all staff are working overtime," he said.

The directorate will add 62 staff to its Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon offices in the coming months to reinforce its existing 163-member workforce.

"We are recruiting 32 low-ranking staff across all [seven] departments in the directorate and the other 30 will be sent by the Union Civil Service Board in November," he said.

The directorate has also issued a tender to buy office furniture and equipment, including 45 tables, 13 steel cupboards, six printers and seven computers.

A director from DICA's Yangon Region branch, Daw San San Myint, said her office is sorely in need of more staff. She said we was unsure whether the new recruiting drive would be enough.

"Of course new staff are absolutely needed. To be honest, this round of recruitment won't be enough to cover the current workload and we will need even more," she said.

"Not only is the workload increasing but also the variety of work. There are more permitted business types so we are getting more inquiries and need to answer all of them. At the same time, we have to collect facts and data and also answer questions from journalists," she said.

The directorate will also open branches in regional centres, with priority given to those where investment and business activity is highest.

"We will open a Mandalay branch around April 2014 and then will continue opening offices in other states and regions. The cities with better business opportunities and more activity, such as Pathein in Ayeyarwady Region and Dawei in Tanintharyi Region, will be given preference," U Linn Htut said.

The directorate was formed in 1993 and is responsible for a range of tasks, including processing documentation from the Myanmar Investment Commission; scrutinising and appraising proposed investment projects; monitoring and reporting on permitted projects; and registering and administering companies, joint ventures, partnerships and associations.

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