Burma's acting prime minister says only 10 percent of the country's registered companies are actually operating.
In an article published by the state-run "New Light of Myanmar" newspaper today, Lieutenant General Thein Sein said 4,000 of 40,000 registered companies are open for business.
He said most of those companies have little capital and weak access to foreign markets. The general said outside the cities of Rangoon and Mandalay, most provinces only have one or two companies with international contacts.
He said the state is ready to help increase the number of companies that can do business globally.
The military-run government is isolated internationally and is under U.S. and European economic sanctions because of alleged human rights abuses and the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Information for this report is provided by AFP.
