TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Plans by the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to open a branch office in Myanmar will soon materialize. The three companies opening branches are PT Bank BNI, Pertamina and PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA). "They should open within the next few months," said Minister Dahlan Iskan said on September 5. The three offices should have been opened in July. However, due to the Rohingya ethnic conflict in the country, it had to be postponed. Dahlan praises Myanmar’s conditions for attracting investment. "The land there is good, the economy is growing, the people are also nice," he said. Dahlan adds, in addition to SOEs, national private firms are also trying to open an office in Myanmar. But he is reluctant to name the company. "Local private companies have also begun surveying farms and sugar mills," he said. The reasons for choosing Myanmar as a place for SOEs to invest, according to Dahlan, are our common culture and the huge service Indonesia politically rendered to Myanmar. "The president was instrumental in helping Myanmar to become an open country," he said some time ago. That is why, according to Dahlan, Indonesia should establish business opportunities in the country. "Let’s be the first ones to enjoy, don’t let other countries cut in front of us." SATWIKA MOVEMENTI