Myanmar moves to open bourse

TOKYO - Agence France-Presse

Tokyo’s stock exchange said yesterday it would help Myanmar open its first bourse by 2015, the latest example of business eyeing the isolated nation after a string of recent reforms.

Japan’s main stock exchange and brokerage Daiwa Securities’ research arm have struck a deal with Myanmar’s central bank to jointly open the exchange after years of dialogue, the Tokyo bourse said in a statement.

“By establishing Myanmar’s first stock exchange... we think we will be able to contribute to developing capital markets in the country,” it said.

Before the announcement, a Tokyo exchange spokeswoman said: “We expect that Myanmar will develop a stock market as political reforms are going on.”

Japanese and Western companies are increasingly eyeing business opportunities in the country formerly known as Burma after its transition to a nominally civilian government, following decades of military rule.