Myanmar Investment Commission clarifies investment approvals
19 October 2026
On 19 August 2026, the Myanmar Investment Commission (“MIC”) issued Notification No. 5/2026 (“Notification”), which seeks to clarify and streamline the investment approval process. The Notification repeals and replaces Notification 26/2021 on the same subject.
The Notification:
- introduces the defined term “Applicant”, which encompasses investors, their authorised representatives and relevant subsidiary companies;
- gives Region or State Committees (“Committees”) greater authority to deal with endorsements, including approving certain amendments and increases in investment that remain within the permitted investment threshold. The Notification does not itself specify that threshold but provides for the MIC to determine and announce the permitted amount separately. Matters exceeding the applicable threshold, as well as specified ownership or asset transfers, certain construction-period extensions, tax reliefs and other reserved matters, must still be referred to the MIC;
- sets out a more detailed framework for temporary suspension and early termination. Among other things, suspensions are limited to one year, continued wage payments must be evidenced during a suspension, and, where required, evidence must be provided that tax exemptions or reliefs previously enjoyed have been repaid in cases of early termination;
- increases transparency in application handling, with Committees required to inform an applicant of a rejection and provide reasons within five working days; and
- streamlines administrative and monitoring requirements. Supporting documents for land rights authorisation are simplified, while the Investment Monitoring Team’s regular inspection process is reduced from three stages to two.
The Notification also introduces more specific timelines for stages of the application process and expands the matters to be covered in Committees’ quarterly reports to the MIC.