Arakan State MSMEs yet to receive promised loans from junta

By Admin 03 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 August 2023, Sittwe
 
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Arakan State have expressed disappointment that the Arakan State military council has failed to honour its promise to provide loans for them.
 
Local business owners said they have yet to receive loans from the 10 billion kyats loan scheme for MSMEs announced by the junta nearly one year ago.
 
“Perhaps the government [military council] is busy doing rehabilitation works after the storm, and has no time for MSMEs. It is also possible that it attaches no importance to MSMEs in Arakan State,” said U Soe Win Naing, vice chair of the MSME Association Rakhine.
 
MSME Association Rakhine was established on March 14, 2022, with the purpose of spurring economic development, creating jobs and facilitating socio-economic development in Arakan State, which is one of the poorest states in Myanmar.
 
MSMEs engage in economic activities that run the gamut, from agriculture and handicrafts to textiles and cottage industries.
 
Local MSMEs in Arakan State could have grown more robustly if they had received proper and timely assistance from the regime, MSME owners say.
 
These entrepreneurs in Arakan State were already struggling with various challenges including frequent power outages and lack of access to commercial bank loans. Many have had difficulties standing their businesses back up after they were badly affected by Cyclone Mocha.
 
“We have financial constraints to make repairs,” said weaving workshop owner Daw Aye Nu Khin from Warr Bo Village in Sittwe Township. “We were told after the storm that we would get loans. However, we have not heard about it since then.”

Advocates of MSMEs say that, if developed and sustained, these businesses will create jobs for local people and help staunch the flow of human capital out of Arakan State.
 
“The military council has a policy to support MSMEs, but policy alone can’t solve the problems facing business owners,” said a leading businessman in Arakan State, who added that the regime had yet to “walk the walk” when it came to providing meaningful assistance to MSMEs.