The report, by the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), ranked First Myanmar Investment (FMI) Group, City Mart Holdings Ltd (CMHL), and Serge Pun & Associates as the top three performers among 182 large Myanmar companies that were assessed through their corporate websites, including listed and public enterprises. CMHL rose from eighth place in the last report to No 2 in terms of transparency this year. This year marks the fourth year of the report, known as Pwint Thit Sa.

Big players, such as Aya Bank, Max Myanmar, Shwe Taung, Grand Guardian Insurance, Dagon Group and Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings, scored high marks. The report also noted that Myanmar Awba, Myanmar Citizens Bank, and First Private Bank significantly improved disclosure of corporate governance information compared with their efforts in the report for 2016.

“The leading companies from last year are still more or less the same as before. FMI should be congratulated for coming top for the third year running and demonstrating a high standard of corporate governance,” said MCRB director Vicky Bowman. “And companies like CMHL, Shwe Taung and AYA Bank should be recognised for their significant improvement.”

One striking statistic from this year’s report is that the average score for a company in which the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation has invested is 54 per cent, compared with an average of 7 per cent for the companies assessed. This indicates even greater transparency than that assessed for the five listed companies on Yangon Stock Exchange, which averaged 38 per cent, she said.

“This demonstrates that good corporate governance is what attracts investors and partners for companies. It also shows that IFC investment and the guidance that accompanies it make a real difference to how these companies run themselves,” she said.

Bowman said some public companies still have very poor disclosure records and an absence of corporate governance, resulting in an average score of only 4 per cent. Over one-third of the companies that were assessed still do not have corporate websites. The scoring was based on the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard used in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.

Tun Tun, chief financial officer at FMI Group, said the firm was very satisfied with its top ranking. FMI is the first company to be listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange.

“We see it as our responsibility to raise the standards of corporate governance in Myanmar and we are honoured to be recognised for our efforts. Corporate integrity, transparency and accountability are our core principles,” he said. “Having been awarded the highest score for disclosure again is a testament to the hard work and dedication our team has put into setting up systems and processes to ensure good corporate governance.”

Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Limited climbed nearly 10 spots into ninth place. MTSH is the majority shareholder in Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd (MJTD), the developer of the Thilawa special economic zone.

Tomoyasu Shimizu, president of MJTD, said the study reaffirmed the firm’s professionalism and commitment to Myanmar.

“The corporate culture and aspiration of the Thilawa SEZ is to be a leader in sustainability, governance and honest two-way communication with our stakeholders. The report means we are all doing the right thing,” he said.

The report assessed more than twice the number of businesses since its last findings in 2016. The criteria for evaluation are good corporate governance, corporate culture, reporting, sustainability management and communication.

 AirAsia will work as an anchor partner of Plug and Play’s Travel and Hospitality programme to mentor new businesses and collaborate with emerging technologies.

This will allow AirAsia to identify, observe and support relevant startups as they develop new products and technologies for the travel sector.

The company has reached an agreement to acquire shares in CSLF, a Taiwan-based food service firm that manufactures, imports and sells food products.

JWD posted Bt589 million in revenue and a Bt20.7 million in net profit in fiscal year 2017. It has set a growth target of 15 per cent this year and will acquire a 60 per cent equity stake, worth Bt160 million, in the Taiwanese firm.

Payments and transfer of the shares are expected to be completed in April 2018.

Amid the high growth potential of the regional logistics market, the company will enter two new markets in the region this year – in addition to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand.

As for the growing food and cold storage segment, it seeks to build one additional cold storage plant in Vietnam in the second quarter of this year.

It plans to expand its investments in Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia , after partnering with Indonesian shipping line Samudera Group in setting up a joint venture firm to acquire a 67 per cent stake in Adib Cold Logistics (or ACL), a Jakarta-based cold storage and cargo transport company, Charvanin said.

It expects the SET Index to be more volatile in the second quarter amid uncertainty over whether the general election will be held next year.

Prakit Siriwattanaket, vice president of Kasikorn Securities, said about Bt49 billion of the total amount of dividends will go to foreign investors who may leave the country with their earnings and ease the baht in the short term, he said.

He said a drop in the SET Index as an opportunity to invest, particularly in banking, retail and the communications sectors.

The Same-Day service will deliver ordered items to customers within the day of orders, if the orders are placed before 11am on the same day.

The new investment means Kerry Express will invest at least a total of Bt1.8 billion to double the fleet size of its Same-Day delivery network in Bangkok, and increase the number of its service points from 1,500 to 2,500 locations by the end of this year. Kerry Express’ extensive service-point network does not only provide Thais with easy access to its first-class delivery services, it is also part of it’s O2O (online-to-offline) strategies.

Thecocompany will also open more distribution centres, build more mega-size sorting centres, procure more vehicles, and most importantly recruit more people to enhance its people’s network.

SMU

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY

COUNCIL SET UP IN THAILAND

Singapore Management University (SMU), one of leading universities in Asia, has launched its International Advisory Council in Thailand to establish, strengthen and deepen SMU’s collaboration and engagement with the government, academic and business communities in Thailand.

SMU president and professor De Meyer said the launch of the SMU International Advisory Council in Thailand comes on the heels of SMU successful efforts in Myanmar in July, the Philippines in October, and Vietnam in December last year, as well as in China in January this year.

“The SMU plans to roll out similar initiatives to other countries in the region where we have a sizable alumni base and established relationships with local academia, businesses and governments,” he said.

The SMU International Advisory Council in Thailand, chaired by Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of Bangkok Bank, comprises the following members: Timothy Chia, chairman of Hup Soon Global Corporation ; William Heinecke, chairman of Minor International; Ho Ren Hua, chief executive officer of Thai Wah; Aloke Lohia, group chief executive officer of Indorama Ventures; Kirit Shah, chairman of GP Group of Companies; Khunying Jada Wattanasiritham, independent director of the Siam Commercial Bank; as well as Satta Chairasmisak and Jittida Haputpong, head of partnerships of Igloohome.

NEW HEAD FOR TOKIO MARINE INSURANCE (THAILAND)

Tokio Marine Insurance (Thailand) Plc has announced that Tokio Marine and its board of directors had appointed Hironori Kiryu as the new president of Tokio Marine Insurance (Thailand). He will succeed Shinkichi Mike Miki from April 1.

Hironori Kiryu is currently Associate Director & General Manager of Automobile Industry Marketing Department at Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co Ltd. He has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry.

FREENOMENON

SCB CAMPAIGN WAIVES

APP TRANSACTION FEES

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has launched the “SCB EASY Freenomenon” campaign offering cancellation of fees for five most popular types of financial transactions via SCB EASY mobile application. The five are Money transfers across clearing zones; Real-time interbank transfers; Top-ups; Bill payments; and Cardless cash withdrawals across clearing zones. The offer has been effective since March 26. SCB is confident that the number of SCB EASY app downloads and users will soar past the 10 million mark before the end of this year. It aims to become the Most Admired Bank by 2020.

After the revamp of SCB EASY and its platform last August, the number of SCB EASY app customers has been increasing by more than 300,000 each month on average to more than 6.5 million users to date, with 75 per cent being active clients. About 150 million financial transactions are conducted via SCB Easy every month. Money transfers, top-ups and bill payments are the most popular.

ANANDA

FOUR PROJECTS TO LAUNCH

IN BUSINESS DISTRICT

Listed property firm Ananda Development Plc plans to launch four service apartment projects, worth a total of Bt10 billion in Bangkok’s central business district, with Singapore-based Ascott Limited appointed for management of the new properties, chief executive officer and president Chanond Ruangkritya said yesterday.

The first project schedued for launch this year is the Bt2.5-billion Somerset Rama 9 Bangkok with 445 units. The projects will create recurring income in the long term, he said.