SINGAPORE (REUTERS) - Myanmar's new mining law, designed to help clear the way for foreign investment in the country's huge minerals sector, could be enacted as soon as March, an official with the country's Ministry of Mines said on Wednesday.

The ministry submitted a draft of the new mining law to parliament on Oct. 1, said Mr Aung Thuyein Win, a director at the ministry.

"We hope that parliament will approve it within three months," he said on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore, adding that after approval by parliament and the president, lawmakers would have 90 days to enact the law.

That means it could be law by March, updating legislation dating from 1994.

The investment climate has changed rapidly since President Thein Sein took office in March 2011 after nearly half a century of military rule.

Myanmar is rich in minerals including gold, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, tin, antimony and chromite.