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Yangon, Myanmar • The Yangon Stock Exchange has officially opened for business, more than three months after its launch.
First Myanmar Investment Co. Ltd. became the first stock to be traded Friday after receiving listing approval for an opening price of 26,000 kyats ($22). Owned by real estate tycoon Serge Pun, it is one of Myanmar's biggest public companies, with over 6,700 shareholders.
The company's share price put its value at around 610 trillion kyats or over $500 million.
"FMI is honored to be the first company to receive approval for a listing on YSX," Thein Wai, the executive chairman of FMI, said in a statement.
Five other companies are due to list, including Myanmar Citizens Bank, First Private Bank and Thilawa SEZ holdings, which controls an industrial zone jointly run by the government and a Japanese consortium.
The Yangon exchange is a joint venture between Myanmar, Japan's Daiwa Institute of Research and the Japan Exchange Group, and has an authorized capital of 30.2 billion kyats ($25.6 million).