Myanmar will allow new privately owned daily newspapers to start publication on April 1, ending nearly five decades of state monopoly over daily news, officials said Friday.
Both Burmese and English-language newspapers would be allowed from the date, which marks the second anniversary of the elected government, the Information Ministry said online.
Myanmar's media was ranked among the world's least free under the military rule from 1962 to 2010.
Numerous reforms have been implemented since President Thein Sein came to power on March 31, 2011, including a loosening of controls over the domestic press and the ending of pre-publication censorship this year.
But the government has so far not allowed new licences for daily newspapers, which have been state-controlled for five decades.
Information Minister Aung Kyi said he wanted to complete several steps, including a code of ethics and conduct for journalists, before passing out new licences for dailies.
Every democracy which allows publication of daily newspapers has organizations and regulations to enforce journalism ethics and to protect the individual rights of the people," Aung Kyi said in September.
There are at least 10 private groups seeking the new licences, including Mizzima, a news agency currently run by exiles, Eleven Media, and the Yangon Media Group, both publishers of weeklies in the country.