Burma plans to privatize oil industry

Burma’s military government notified private businessmen on January 19 of its plan to privatize the country’s oil industry. Sources in Rangoon’s business circle said several leading private businessmen and companies currently importing petrol and diesel were summoned for a meeting in the administrative capital of Naypyitaw and informed of the government’s plan to privatize the oil business by January 31. MPPE, the Burmese junta’s business department dealing with the import and domestic sales of petrol and diesel fuel, has maintained a monopoly over the fuel business since May 2008, when Cyclone Nargis caused a sharp rise in demand for fuel by business enterprises. As MPPE failed to provide the necessary fuel, the government allowed a few private businesses to import fuel. But later, in October 2009, the government allowed all businesses with export earnings to import fuel for their use. (January 27, 2010)