Myanmar revokes forex permits

SIEM REAP Ministry of Tourism has agreed to draft a letter encouraging local business owners to follow certain guidelines that will make Siem Reap and other Cambodian tourist destinations more handicap-accessible.
Khmer Times quoted Tourism Minister, Thong Khon, saying the ministry supports the plan, which was presented by Disability Action Council general secretary, Em Chan Makara, last August.
The DAC general secretary asked for ramps at natural and historical tourist attractions, and noted that Angkor Wat, the country’s most visited tourist attraction, currently has no wheelchair ramps.
He urged the ministry to draft a proposal and forward to business owners in the hospitality industry.
inside no 3The guidelines would give clear instructions on making destinations more handicap accessible, like having proper signage, priority parking spots and elevators where possible.
The secretary also asked the ministry to promote the recruitment of people with disabilities into the tourism sector.
Apsara Authority spokesperson, Kérya Chau Sun, was quoted saying toilets in the Angkor Archaeological Park are equipped with wheelchair ramps, but it was not possible to make ramps within the World Heritage site itself.

She suggested that Banteay Srey might be a more realistic target for wheelchair accessibility.
For January to August this year, Cambodia welcomed 3,032,411 international travellers up 5.0% from 2,888,670 visits in 2014.YANGON, 20 October 2015: Myanmar businesses ranging from restaurants to golf clubs have until the end of next month to stop charging in US dollars, the central bank announced in a snap move to stabilise the kyat currency.
Banks and official moneychangers will still be allowed to exchange dollars for the local currency, but a host of firms, many in the service sector, will have to return their permits.
The special licences enabling firms to convert US currency will be revoked to combat “dollarisation”, the Central Bank of Myanmar said in a statement.
“Because of payments and sales in dollars, there has been dollarisation leading to an increased need for dollars, weakening the ‘Kyat’ and causing exchange rate instability,” it said.
inside no 9The kyat has lost around 20% of its value against the dollar in the last six months. The official rate Monday was 1,283 to the dollar.
The central bank said affected businesses would have until 30 November to hand back their licences.
Those include hotels, restaurants, airlines and duty-free shops, meaning tourists will soon have to carry wads of local notes.
Myanmar, which in 2011 shrugged off the isolation and economic hardships of military rule, has won praise for reforms in recent years, including giving autonomy to the central bank and adopting a floating rate for the kyat.
The first handful of foreign banks permitted to operate in Myanmar in decades opened in April.
Myanmar also hopes to open a long-awaited stock exchange by the end of this year.
Sean Turnell, an expert on Myanmar’s economy, criticised the central bank’s decision for what he called “policy on a whim”.
He said many tourism-related businesses would still have costs in dollars and would “presumably try to achieve this by an ever-fluctuating kyat price”.
“According to my reading, every tourist will now have to exchange foreign currency for kyat cash and hand over the resulting brick,” he told AFP.
One foreign restaurateur, who currently charges in dollars and asked not to be named, said he was planning to switch to kyat payments when his business moves to another premises where rent would be paid in the local currency.
But in a city where most commercial rents are charged in dollars, businesses could struggle to find the cash to pay their landlords, he added.

sourced:ttrweekly.com