Myanmar, formerly Burma, is “a unique investment opportunity”, says Tom Holland in the Financial Times. Two years ago the military regime embarked on political and economic liberalisation, freeing democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi and gradually relaxing the state’s grip on the economy. Now it is “one of the world’s most exciting” emerging markets.
Its resources include gas, oil, gems and agricultural commodities; a literate 60 million-strong population; labour costs among the lowest in the region; and a promising spot on trade routes between China, India and Southeast Asia.
A recently enacted foreign investment law, which allows outsiders to own up to 80% of firms not on a restricted list, provides a framework for foreign money to “grease the wheels of economic development”, says Holland. Last year, foreign direct investment grew by around 40%. Alisher Ali of Silk Road Management reckons the country’s GDP “may easily double within five years”.
Plenty can still go wrong. Corruption and red tape could undermine the effectiveness of foreign money. As Klaus Wille on Bloomberg.com points out, Myanmar was ranked 180 of 183 nations in Transparency International’s 2011 corruption index. Recurrent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims point to possible political turbulence.
But with the country being widely heralded as a potential Asian tiger, it has appeared on investors’ radar screens long before its stock exchange is due to open in 2015.