Spotlight on... Myanmar
- Jaroslav Ton
- Jan 12, 2017
- 2 min read
Challenges in Myanmar: Money, landmines and roads
In 2016, Myanmar witnessed major achievements. In October, most US sanctions were lifted, enabling Foreign Direct Investment and thus providing way for much needed capital investment and technology transfer. This is especially important for key sectors, such as energy and infrastructure. The Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, a “blacklist” of subjects that were off-limits to investors, was equally lifted. But perhaps most importantly, the “21st Century Panglong” conference in the autumn demonstrated the willingness of the government and the ethnic military groups to cooperate and to end the long last civil strife that plight the border regions.
But despite promising developments, Myanmar faces several challenges in 2017. Amidst slowing growth and weakening currency, Myanmar might struggle to attract desperately needed foreign investment in infrastructure given the significant political risk in the country. The September peace talks were not a complete success. Some important groups, such as the KIA, were engaged in fights with the national army throughout autumn. This not only raises serious questions about the mining industry in the jade rich region of Kachin, but also about the long-term effects of fighting, notably the landmines.
Many of conflict-ridden regions are plagued with landmines. This is especially the case of Eastern Myanmar, such as the Kayin State and the Bago region, just north of the biggest city and the former capital, Yangon. This makes investment in infrastructure, such as roads and railways that would connect major investor countries, like Thailand and China, with deep-water ports and special economic zones in the south and south-east, more complicated, and much costlier – the process of destruction of mines requires appropriate know-how and personnel.
However, Myanmar has not ratified the International Landmine Treaty nor the Convention on Cluster Munitions that would prevent the armed groups to use landmines. By the account of Myanmar Times, landmines have been in active use in the civil conflict each year since at least 1997.
Without agreement with the ethnic armed groups and the central government, and the signature of the aforementioned international treaties, landmines will still be in active use in Myanmar, thus slowing down the much-needed investment in infrastructure and, needless to say, tourism. Investors should keep on the lookout not only on the ongoing peace process, but also on government making abolition of landmines its priority.
Sources
About Jaroslav Ton
I am a third-year BSc Economic History student at the LSE. In my studies, I have focused on historical developments in East Asian economies. Given the importance of China in the world, I have paid special attention to Chinese language and culture. I have also had the opportunity to see the current state of China first hand when I spend two months at Fudan University in Shanghai in the summer of 2015. Fascinated by China and the East Asia region as a whole, I decided to write regular political risk and investment articles for PRIS.
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