Yangon’s Stock Exchange is up and running.
At 11am (Myanmar time) on Friday morning, the bell rang and trading started on First Myanmar Investment, or FMI, the sole company listed on the fledgling bourse.
Shares opened at 31,000 kyats (about $26). At the moment, only local investors can buy in.
This was what the big board looked like only a few minutes after the opening bell.
Before the bell, Serge Pun, founder and head of FMI, addressed the assembled crowd in the building on Merchant Street in downtown Yangon.
“For 50 years we have not seen a stock exchange, but today it is a reality. It is indeed a very historic day,” he said, adding later that “we look forward to a buoyant economy, and we look forward to a robust Yangon Stock Exchange.”
So do we. Inside, the historic building had a modern, and somewhat empty, feel. There were lots of invited guests, but none of them were in the “guest lounge,” for reasons that are obvious in this photo.
But hey, it’s only Day 1. The microwaveable lunches can wait.
The activity at the exchange is the latest positive business news to hit Myanmar as the country undergoes a period of rapid economic and social change.
From 1962 until 2010, Myanmar was under various forms of military rule. Leaders closed the economy off and nationalized many industries. But in recent years officials have taken steps to liberalize the economy, and the victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in November was seen as a positive sign for continued reforms.
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