Contracted foreign investment in Myanmar has hit 7.646 billion US dollars in 17 years since the country opened to such investment in late 1988, said the latest report of a local press.

Coming from 27 countries and regions, the foreign investment is dominated by Singapore in 72 projects with 1.572 billion dollars, accounting for 20.57 percent of the total, the Weekly Eleven News quoted the government's Foreign Investment Commission (FIC) as saying.

In the top-five foreign investors line-up, Britain stands the second largest with 1.431 billion dollars in 38 projects, followed by Thailand and Malaysia with 1.341 billion in 55 projects and 660. 74 million in 33 projects respectively and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which has risen to the 5th with 504. 21 million dollars in 31 projects from the previous 10th, according to the FIC figures.

Regionally speaking, over half of Myanmar's foreign investment or 51.87 percent came from Southeast Asian countries with 3.964 billion dollars.

Sectorally speaking, oil and natural gas sector dominates the country's foreign investment with 2.494 billion dollars or 32.69 percent, followed by the manufacturing sector (1.61 billion), livestock and fishery (1.063 billion), real estate (1.025 billion) and mining (534.19 million), the figures reveal.

The figures also indicate that at present, Thailand's PTTEP and Malaysia's Petronas stand as the two largest investors in Myanmar's oil and gas sector.

Economists point out that the foreign investment in the sector of agriculture, which 60 percent of Myanmar's population depend on, amounts to merely 34.35 million dollars or 0.45 percent of the total sectorally.

More foreign investment in the farming sector is being called for.

Source: Xinhua