Myanmar received almost US$2 billion in new foreign investment in manufacturing during the 2013-14 financial year - a sector the government has prioritised in an effort to boost job creation.

New figures from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration show that the Myanmar Investment Commission approved $4.1 billion in new investment in the financial year that ended on March 31 - almost three times the $1.42 billion in 2012-13.

Of the total, around 45 percent went toward manufacturing projects, said DICA director general U Aung Naing Oo.

"Labour-intensive manufacturing has been prioritised and promoted, and the investment proposals we received included lots of labour-intensive manufacturing - that was really the driving force behind the increase we saw last year," he said.

The telecommunications and hotel sectors accounted for another 29pc and 10pc respectively, with investment also flowing into nine other sectors, including oil and gas, mining, transportation and property. A total of 123 new businesses were approved and the projects are expected to create just shy of 90,000 new jobs.

U Aung Naing Oo said the figures showed the government's efforts to initiate economic reform were having an impact, particularly in telecommunications, with foreign companies Telenor and Ooredoo granted operating licences in June 2013.

"The increase occurred due to the government guidelines to promote the labour-intensive manufacturing sector," he said. "Secondly, the government's economic reform, because it opened up the telecom sector by enacting new laws.

"And the increase in hotel business, thirdly, is because, in my personal opinion, the country's reforms have boosted the tourism sector and this has encouraged investment in hotel businesses."

Not all sectors attracted significant investments. One that struggled in particular was electric power, which has accounted for almost 42pc of contracted foreign investment since 1988, with $19.3 billion. However, a number of large projects have yet to be realised, including the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam and $6 billion Tasang dam on the Than Lwin River.

U Aung Naing Oo said only a handful of applications were rejected last year.

"Very few were refused because we explained whether we could accept them or not during the discussion process," he said. "For those that were rejected, it was because they were not environmentally safe or not in line with the country's policy."

Analysts said that Myanmar still faced limitations due to lack of infrastructure development and concerns over the country's political stability.

"Although we hope for investment in technology and high-profile investors, they will come only when the country's situations and systems are adaptable to the way that they want to do business,"

U Aung Naing Oo said.

This, U Hnin Oo, a central executive committee member at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, stressed that the country must look broadly for investors.

"If there is a win-win situation between foreign and local businessmen and the investments are beneficial to the country and investors, all investments from any country have to be welcomed," he said.

The 2013-14 figure is historically high for Myanmar - about double the average annual foreign investment since 1988, when the country emerged from 26 years of socialist rule.

By Sandar Lwin

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