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All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.
The economy of Myanmar is the seventh largest in Southeast Asia.[6] After the return of civilian rule in 2011, the new government launched large-scale reforms, focused initially on the political system to restore peace and achieve national unity and moving quickly to an economic and social reform program.[7] Current economic statistics were a huge decline from the economic statistics of Myanmar in the fiscal year of 2020, in which Myanmar’s nominal GDP was $81.26 billion and its purchasing power adjusted GDP was $279.14 billion.[6] Myanmar has faced an economic crisis since the 2021 coup d'état. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Myanmar GDP per capita in 2024 is est to reach $1.179
Burma has been the main trade route between China and India since 100 BC. The Mon Kingdom of lower Burma served as important trading centre in the Bay of Bengal. The majority of the population was involved in rice production and other forms of agriculture.[8] Burma used silver as a medium of exchange.[8] All land was technically owned by the Burmese monarch.[9] Exports, along with oil wells, gem mining and teak production were controlled by the monarch.[9] Burma was vitally involved in the Indian Ocean trade.[8] Logged teak was a prized export that was used in European shipbuilding because of its durability, and became the focal point of Burmese exports from the 1700s to the 1800s.[10]
Under the monarchy, the economy of Myanmar had been one of redistribution, a concept embedded in local society, religion, and politics (Dāna). The state set the prices of the most important commodities. Agrarian self-sufficiency was vital, while trade was only of secondary importance.[11]
Under the British administration, the people of Burma were at the bottom of social hierarchy, with Europeans at the top, Indians, Chinese, and Christianized minorities in the middle, and Buddhist Burmese at the bottom.[12] Integrated into the world economy by force, economic growth in Burma was driven by the extractive industries and cash crop agriculture, and the country had the second-highest GDP per capita in Southeast Asia. However, much of the wealth was concentrated in the hands of Europeans. The country became the world's largest exporter of rice, mainly to European markets, while other colonies like India suffered mass starvation.[13] The British followed the ideologies of Social Darwinism and the free market, and opened up the country to a large-scale immigration with Rangoon exceeding New York City as the greatest immigration port in the world in the 1920s. Historian Thant Myint-U states, "This was out of a total population of only 13 million; it was equivalent to the United Kingdom today taking 2 million people a year." By then, in most of the largest cities in Burma, Rangoon, Akyab, Bassein and Moulmein, the Indian immigrants formed a majority of the population. The Burmese under British rule felt helpless, and reacted with a "racism that combined feelings of superiority and fear".[12]
Crude oil production, an indigenous industry of Yenangyaung, was taken over by the British and put under Burmah Oil monopoly. British Burma began exporting crude oil in 1853.[14] It produced 75% of the world's teak.[15] The wealth was however, mainly concentrated in the hands of Europeans. In the 1930s, agricultural production fell dramatically as international rice prices declined and did not recover for several decades.[16]
During the Japanese invasion of Burma in World War II, the British followed a scorched earth policy. They destroyed the major government buildings, oil wells and mines for tungsten, tin, lead and silver to keep them from the Japanese. Myanmar was bombed extensively by the Allies. After independence, the country was in ruins with its major infrastructure completely destroyed. With the loss of India, Burma lost relevance and obtained independence from the British. After a parliamentary government was formed in 1948, Prime Minister U Nu embarked upon a policy of nationalisation and the state was declared the owner of all land. The government tried to implement an eight-year plan partly financed by injecting money into the economy which caused some inflation.[17]
Post-independence and under U Nu and Ne Win (1948–1988)
After a parliamentary government was formed in 1948, Prime Minister U Nu embarked upon a policy of nationalisation. He attempted to make Burma a welfare state by adopting central planning measures. By the 1950s, rice exports had decreased by two-thirds and mineral exports by over 96%. Plans were implemented in setting up light consumer industries by private sector.[18] The 1962 Burmese coup d'état was followed by an economic scheme called the Burmese Way to Socialism, a plan to nationalise all industries, with the exception of agriculture. The catastrophic program turned Burma into one of the world's most impoverished countries.[19][20] Burma was classified as a least developed country by the United Nations in 1987.[21]
Rule of the generals (1988–2011)
After 1988, the regime retreated from a command economy. It permitted modest expansion of the private sector, allowed some foreign investment, and received much needed foreign exchange.[22] The economy was rated in 2009 as the least free in Asia (tied with North Korea).[23] All basic market institutions are suppressed.[23][24] Private enterprises were often co-owned or indirectly owned by state. The corruption watchdog organisation Transparency International in its 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index released on 26 September 2007 ranked Burma the most corrupt country in the world, tied with Somalia.[25]
The national currency is the kyat. Burma currently has a dual exchange rate system similar to Cuba.[26] The market rate was around two hundred times below the government-set rate in 2006.[24] In 2011, the Burmese government enlisted the aid of the International Monetary Fund to evaluate options to reform the current exchange rate system, to stabilise the domestic foreign exchange trading market and reduce economic distortions.[27] The dual exchange rate system allows for the government and state-owned enterprises to divert funds and revenues, while also giving the government more control over the local economy and making it possible to temporarily subdue inflation.[28][29]
Inflation averaged 30.1% between 2005 and 2007.[23] In April 2007, the National League for Democracy organised a two-day workshop on the economy. The workshop concluded that skyrocketing inflation was impeding economic growth. "Basic commodity prices have increased from 30% to 60% since the military regime promoted a pay rise for government workers in April 2006," said Soe Win, the moderator of the workshop. "Inflation is also correlated with corruption." Myint Thein, an NLD spokesperson, added: "Inflation is the critical source of the current economic crisis."[30]
In recent years, China and India attempted to strengthen ties with Myanmar for mutual benefit. The European Union and some nations including the United States and Canada imposed investment and trade sanctions on Burma. The United States banned all imports from Burma, though this restriction was since lifted.[24] Foreign investment comes primarily from China, Singapore, South Korea, India, and Thailand.[31]
In 2011, when new President Thein Sein's government came to power, Burma embarked on a major policy of reforms including anti-corruption, currency exchange rate regulation, foreign investment laws and taxation. Foreign investments increased from US$300 million in 2009–10 to a US$20 billion in 2010–11 by about 6567%.[32] Large inflow of capital results in stronger Burmese currency, kyat by about 25%. In response, the government relaxed import restrictions and abolished export taxes. Despite current currency problems, Burmese economy is expected to grow by about 8.8% in 2011.[33] After the completion of 58-billion dollar Dawei deep seaport, Burma is expected be at the hub of trade connecting Southeast Asia and the South China Sea, via the Andaman Sea, to the Indian Ocean receiving goods from countries in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and spurring growth in the ASEAN region.[34][35]
In 2012, the Asian Development Bank formally began re-engaging with the country, to finance infrastructure and development projects in the country.[36] The $512 million loan is the first issued by the ADB to Myanmar in 30 years and will target banking services, ultimately leading to other major investments in road, energy, irrigation and education projects.[37]
In March 2012, a draft foreign investment law emerged, the first in more than 2 decades. This law oversees the unprecedented liberalisation of the economy. It for example stipulates that foreigners no longer require a local partner to start a business in the country and can legally lease land.[38] The draft law also stipulates that Burmese citizens must constitute at least 25% of the firm's skilled workforce, and with subsequent training, up to 50–75%.[38]
On 28 January 2013, the government of Myanmar announced deals with international lenders to cancel or refinance nearly $6 billion of its debt, almost 60 per cent of what it owes to foreign lenders. Japan wrote off US$3 Billion, nations in the group of Paris Club wrote off US$2.2 Billion and Norway wrote off US$534 Million.[39]
Myanmar's inward foreign direct investment has steadily increased since its reform. The country approved US$4.4 billion worth of investment projects between January and November 2014.[40]
According to one report released on 30 May 2013, by the McKinsey Global Institute, Burma's future looks bright, with its economy expected to quadruple by 2030 if it invests in more high-tech industries.[41] This however does assume that other factors (such as drug trade, the continuing war of the government with specific ethnic groups, etc.) do not interfere.
As of October 2017, less than 10% of Myanmar's population has a bank account.[42] As of 2016–17 approximately 98 percent of the population has smartphones and mobile money schemes are being implemented without the use of banks similar to African countries.
Since at least 2022, Myanmar is undergoing an ailing economy; the ruling military junta plans to shore up the worsening state of its balance of payments. When the kyat fell by a third of its pre-coup value, the central bank then sold $600 million worth of foreign reserves (10% of the entire country's total) to prop up the kyat. By April 2022, reserves dwindled, foreign investment fell and remittances plummeted. This led the junta to impose capital controls and import restrictions which led to shortages of diabetes and cancer medicines.[50]
Still unresolved internal problems
In a first ever countrywide study in 2013, the Myanmar government found that 37 per cent of the population were unemployed and 26 per cent lived in poverty.[51]
The current state of the Burmese economy has also had a significant impact on the people of Burma, as economic hardship results in extreme delays of marriage and family building. The average age of marriage in Burma is 27.5 for men, 26.4 for women, almost unparalleled in the region, with the exception of developed countries like Singapore.[52][53]
Burma also has a low fertility rate of 2.07 children per woman (2010), especially as compared to other Southeast Asian countries of similar economic standing, like Cambodia (3.18) and Laos (4.41), representing a significant decline from 4.7 in 1983, despite the absence of a national population policy.[54] This is at least partly attributed to the economic strain that additional children place on family income, and has resulted in the prevalence of illegal abortions in the country, as well as use of other forms of birth control.[55]
The 2012 foreign investment law draft, included a proposal to transform the Myanmar Investment Commission from a government-appointed body into an independent board. This could bring greater transparency to the process of issuing investment licenses, according to the proposed reforms drafted by experts and senior officials.[56] However, even with this draft, it will still remain a question on whether corruption in the government can be addressed (links have been shown between certain key individuals inside the government and the drug trade, as well as many industries that use forced labour -for example the mining industry-).[57]
Many regions (such as the Golden Triangle) remain off-limits for foreigners, and in some of these regions, the government is at war with the country's ethnic minorities and the opposition.[57][58]
Industries
The major agricultural product is rice which covers about 60% of the country's total cultivated land area. Rice accounts for 97% of total food grain production by weight. Through collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), 52 modern rice varieties were released in the country between 1966 and 1997, helping increase national rice production to 14 million tons in 1987 and to 19 million tons in 1996. By 1988, modern varieties were planted on half of the country's rice fields, including 98% of the irrigated areas.[59] In 2011, Myanmar's total milled rice production accounted for 10.60 million tons, an increase from the 1.8 per cent back in 2010.[60]
In northern Burma, opium bans have ended a century old tradition of growing poppy. Between 20,000 and 30,000 ex-poppy farmers left the Kokang region as a result of the ban in 2002.[61]
Rubber plantations are being promoted in areas of high elevation like Mong Mao. Sugar is grown in the lowlands such as Mong Pawk District.[61]
The lack of an educated workforce skilled in modern technology contributes to the country's economic problems.[62]
Lately, the Myanmar lacks adequate infrastructure. Goods travel primarily across Thai and China borders and through the main port in Yangon.
Railroads are old and dilapidated, with few repairs since their construction under British rule in the late nineteenth century.[63] Presently China and Japan are providing aid to upgrade rail transport. Highways are normally paved, except in remote border regions.[63] Energy shortages are common throughout the country including in Yangon. About 30 percent of the country's population does not have access to electricity, with 70 per cent of people living in rural areas. The civilian government has indicated that electricity will be imported from Laos to fulfil demand.[64]
Other industries include agricultural goods, textiles, wood products, construction materials, gems, metals, oil and natural gas.
The garment industry is a major job creator in the Yangon area, with around 200,000 workers employed in total in mid-2015.[66] The Myanmar Government has introduced minimum wage of MMK 4,800 (US$3.18) per day for the garment workers from March 2018.[67]
The Myanmar garments sector has seen significant influx of foreign direct investment, if measured by the number of entries rather than their value. In March 2012, six of Thailand's largest garment manufacturers announced that they would move production to Myanmar, principally to the Yangon area, citing lower labour costs.[68] In mid-2015, about 55% of officially registered garment firms in Myanmar were known to be fully or partly foreign-owned, with about 25% of the foreign firms from China and 17% from Hong Kong.[66] Foreign-linked firms supply almost all garment exports, and these have risen rapidly in recent years, especially since EU sanctions were lifted in 2012.[66] Myanmar exported $1.6 billion worth of garments and textiles in 2016.
A world map of the world's primary opium or heroin producers. The Golden Triangle region, which Burma is part of, is pinpointed in this map.
Burma (Myanmar) is the largest producer of methamphetamines in the world, with the majority of ya ba found in Thailand produced in Burma, particularly in the Golden Triangle and Northeastern Shan State, which borders Thailand, Laos and China.[69] Burmese-produced ya ba is typically trafficked to Thailand via Laos, before being transported through the northeastern Thai region of Isan.[70]
In 2010, Burma trafficked 1 billion tablets to neighbouring Thailand.[69] In 2009, the Chinese authorities seized over 40 million tablets that had been illegally trafficked from Burma.[71] Ethnic militias and rebel groups (in particular the United Wa State Army) are responsible for much of this production; however, the Burmese military units are believed to be heavily involved in the trafficking of the drugs.[69]
Burma is also the second largest supplier of opium (following Afghanistan) in the world, with 95% of opium grown in Shan State.[72][73] Illegal narcotics have generated $1 to US$2 billion in exports annually, with estimates of 40% of the country's foreign exchange coming from drugs.[69][74] Efforts to eradicate opium cultivation have pushed many ethnic rebel groups, including the United Wa State Army and the Kokang to diversify into methamphetamine production.
Prior to the 1980s, heroin was typically transported from Burma to Thailand, before being trafficked by sea to Hong Kong, which was and still remains the major transit point at which heroin enters the international market. Now, drug trafficking has shifted to southern China (from Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong) because of a growing market for drugs in China, before reaching Hong Kong.[75]
The prominence of major drug traffickers have allowed them to penetrate other sectors of the Burmese economy, including the banking, airline, hotel and infrastructure industries.[76] Their investment in infrastructure have allowed them to make more profits, facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering.[77] The share of informal economy in Myanmar is one of the largest in the world that feeds into trade in illegal drugs.[65]
Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) is the national oil and gas company of Burma. The company is a sole operator of oil and gas exploration and production, as well as domestic gas transmission through a 1,900-kilometre (1,200mi) onshore pipeline grid.[78][79]
The Norwegian company Seadrill owned by John Fredriksen is involved in offshore oildrilling, expected to give the Burmese government oil and oil export revenues.
Myanmar exported $3.5 billion worth of gas, mostly to Thailand in the fiscal year up to March 2012.[80]
Initiation to bid on oil exploration licenses for 18 of Myanmar's onshore oil blocks has been released on 18 January 2013.[80]
Renewable energy
Myanmar has rich solar power and hydropower potential. The country's technical solar power potential is the greatest among the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion. Wind energy, biogas and biomass have limited potential and are weakly developed.[81]
Financing geothermal projects in Myanmar use an estimated break even power cost of 5.3–8.6 U.S cents/kWh or in Myanmar Kyat 53–86K per kWh. This pegs a non-fluctuating $1=1000K, which is a main concern for power project funding. The main drawback with depreciation pressures, in the current FX market. Between June 2012 and October 2015, the Myanmar Kyat depreciated by approximately 35%, from 850 down to 1300 against the US Dollar. Local businesses with foreign denominated loans from abroad suddenly found themselves rushing for a strategy to mitigate currency risks. Myanmar's current lack of available currency hedging solutions presents a real challenge for geothermal project financing.[82]
Gemstones
Myanmar's economy depends heavily on sales of precious stones such as sapphires, pearls and jade. Rubies are the biggest earner; 90% of the world's rubies come from the country, whose red stones are prized for their purity and hue. Thailand buys the majority of the country's gems. Burma's "Valley of Rubies", the mountainous Mogok area, 200km (120mi) north of Mandalay, is noted for its rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires.[83] Burma's gemstone industry is a cornerstone of the Burmese economy with exports topping $1 billion.[84]
In 2007, following the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Myanmar, human rights organisations, gem dealers, and US First Lady Laura Bush called for a boycott of a Myanmar gem auction held twice yearly, arguing that the sale of the stones profited the dictatorial regime in that country.[85] Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma stated that mining operators used drugs on employees to improve productivity, with needles shared, raising the risk of HIV infection.[86]Richard W. Hughes, a Bangkok-based gemologist makes the point that for every ruby sold through the junta, another gem that supports subsistence mining is smuggled over the Thai border.[87]
The Chinese have also been the chief driving force behind Burma's gem mining industry and jade exports.[88] The industry is completely under Chinese hands at every level, from the financiers, concession operators, all the way to the retail merchants that own scores of newly opened gem markets. One Chinese-owned jeweller reportedly controls 100 gem mines and produces over 2,000 kilograms of raw rubies annually. Since the privatization of the gem industry during the 1990s, Burmese jewelers and entrepreneurs of Chinese ancestry have transformed Burma's gem industry into new retail jewelry shops, selling coveted pieces of expensive jewelry to customers mainly hailing from Hong Kong and Taiwan.[89]
The permits for new gem mines in Mogoke, Mineshu and Nanyar state will be issued by the ministry according to a statement issued by the ministry on 11 February. While many sanctions placed on the former regime were eased or lifted in 2012, the US has left restrictions on importing rubies and jade from Myanmar intact. According to recent amendments to the new Myanmar foreign investment law, there is no longer a minimum capital requirement for investments, except in mining ventures, which require substantial proof of capital and must be documented through a domestic bank. Another important clarification in the investment law is the dropping of foreign ownership restrictions in joint ventures, except in restricted sectors, such as mining, where FDI will be capped at 80 per cent.[90]
Myanmar is famed for its production of Golden South Sea Pearls. In recent years, the countries has auctioned its production in Hong Kong, first organized by Belpearl company in 2013 to critical acclaim and premium prices due to strong Chinese demand. Notable pearls include the New Dawn of Myanmar, a 19mm round golden pearl which sold to an anonymous buyer for undisclosed price.[91][92]
Since 1992, the government has encouraged tourism. Until 2008, fewer than 750,000 tourists entered the country annually,[93] but there has been substantial growth over the past years. In 2012, 1.06 million tourists visited the country,[94] and 1.8 million are expected to visit by the end of 2013.
Tourism is a growing sector of the economy of Burma. Burma has diverse and varied tourist attractions and is served internationally by numerous airlines via direct flights. Domestic and foreign airlines also operate flights within the country. Cruise ships also dock at Yangon. Overland entry with a border pass is permitted at several border checkpoints. The government requires a valid passport with an entry visa for all tourists and business people. As of May 2010, foreign business visitors from any country can apply for a visa on arrival when passing through Yangon and Mandalay international airports without having to make any prior arrangements with travel agencies.[95] Both the tourist visa and business visa are valid for 28 days, renewable for an additional 14 days for tourism and three months for business. Seeing Burma through a personal tour guide is popular. Travellers can hire guides through travel agencies.
Aung San Suu Kyi has requested that international tourists not visit Burma.[96] Moreoever, the junta's forced labour programmes were focused on tourist destinations; these designations have been heavily criticised for their human rights records. Even disregarding the obviously governmental fees, Burma's Minister of Hotels and Tourism Major-General Saw Lwin admitted that the government receives a significant percentage of the income of private sector tourism services. In addition, only a very small minority of impoverished people in Burma receive any money with any relation to tourism.[97]
Before 2012, much of the country was completely off-limits to tourists, and the military tightly controlled interactions between foreigners and the people of Burma. Locals were not allowed to discuss politics with foreigners, under penalty of imprisonment, and in 2001, the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board issued an order for local officials to protect tourists and limit "unnecessary contact" between foreigners and ordinary Burmese people. Since 2012, Burma has opened up to more tourism and foreign capital, synonymous with the country's transition to democracy.[98]
Infrastructure
The Myanmar Infrastructure Summit 2018 noted that Myanmar has an urgent need to "close its infrastructure gap", with an anticipated expenditure of US$120 billion funding its infrastructural projects between now and 2030. More specifically, infrastructural development in Myanmar should address three major challenges over the upcoming years: 1) Road modernization and integration with neighboring roads and transportation networks; 2) Development of regional airports and expansion of existing airport capacity, and 3) Maintenance and consolidation of urban transport infrastructure, through instalments of innovative transportation tools including but not limited to water-taxis and air-conditioned buses. Myanmar needs to scale up its enabling infrastructure like transport, power supply and public utilities.[99]
China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects may affect 24 million people in Myanmar living in the BRI corridors, thus transforming the allocation of economic benefits and losses among economic actors in the country.[100]
External trade
Burmese exports in 2006
2006–2007 Financial Year Trade volume (in US$000,000)
Sr. No.
Description
2006–2007 Budget Trade Volume
2006–2007 Real Trade Volume
Export
Import
Trade Volume
Export
Import
Trade Volume
1
Normal Trade
4233.60
2468.40
6702.00
4585.47
2491.33
7076.80
2
Border Trade
814.00
466.00
1280.00
647.21
445.40
1092.61
Total
5047.60
2934.40
7982.00
5232.68
2936.73
8169.41
Total Trade Value for Financial year 2006–2007 to Financial year 2009–2010
Burma, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, and rural poverty. The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism," but those efforts stalled, and some of the liberalization measures were rescinded. Burma does not have monetary or fiscal stability, so the economy suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances – including inflation, multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat, and a distorted interest rate regime. Most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta began to suppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently refused to honor the results of the 1990 legislative elections. In response to the government of Burma's attack in May 2003 on Aung San Suu Kyi and her convoy, the US imposed new economic sanctions against Burma – including a ban on imports of Burmese products and a ban on provision of financial services by US persons. A poor investment climate further slowed the inflow of foreign exchange. The most productive sectors will continue to be in extractive industries, especially oil and gas, mining, and timber. Other areas, such as manufacturing and services, are struggling with inadequate infrastructure, unpredictable import/export policies, deteriorating health and education systems, and corruption. A major banking crisis in 2003 shuttered the country's 20 private banks and disrupted the economy. As of December 2005, the largest private banks operate under tight restrictions limiting the private sector's access to formal credit. Official statistics are inaccurate. Published statistics on foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and unofficial border trade – often estimated to be as large as the official economy. Burma's trade with Thailand, China, and India is rising. Though the Burmese government has good economic relations with its neighbors, better investment and business climates and an improved political situation are needed to promote foreign investment, exports, and tourism.
The economy saw continuous real GDP growth of at least 5% from 2009 onwards.
Foreign investment
Though foreign investment has been encouraged, it has so far met with only moderate success. The United States has placed trade sanctions on Burma. The European Union has placed embargoes on arms, non-humanitarian aid, visa bans on military regime leaders, and limited investment bans. Both the European Union and the US have placed sanctions on grounds of human rights violations in the country. Many nations in Asia, particularly India, Thailand and China have actively traded with Burma. However, on April 22, 2013, the EU suspended economic and political sanctions against Burma.[104]
The public sector enterprises remain highly inefficient and also privatisation efforts have stalled.[citation needed] The estimates of Burmese foreign trade are highly ambiguous because of the great volume of black market trading. A major ongoing problem is the failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. One government initiative was to utilise Burma's large natural gas deposits. Currently, Burma has attracted investment from Thai, Malaysian, Filipino, Russian, Australian, Indian, and Singaporean companies.[105] Trade with the US amounted to $243.56 million as of February 2013, accounting for 15 projects and just 0.58 per cent of the total, according to government statistics.[106]
Asian investment
The Economist's special report on Burma points to increased economic activity resulting from Burma's political transformation and influx of foreign direct investment from Asian neighbours.[107] Near the Mingaladon Industrial Park, for example, Japanese-owned factories have risen from the "debris" caused by "decades of sanctions and economic mismanagement."[107] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe has identified Burma as an economically attractive market that will help stimulate the Japanese economy.[107] Among its various enterprises, Japan is helping build the Thilawa Port, which is part of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, and helping fix the electricity supply in Yangon.[107]
Japan is not the largest investor in Myanmar. "Thailand, for instance, the second biggest investor in Myanmar after China, is forging ahead with a bigger version of Thilawa at Dawei, on Myanmar's Tenasserim Coast... Thai rulers have for centuries been toying with the idea of building a canal across the Kra Isthmus, linking the Gulf of Thailand directly to the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean to avoid the journey round peninsular Malaysia through the Strait of Malacca." Dawei would give Thailand that connection. [107]
China, by far the biggest investor in Burma, has focused on constructing oil and gas pipelines that "crisscross the country, starting from a new terminus at Kyaukphyu, just below Sittwe, up to Mandalay and on to the Chinese border town of Ruili and then Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province". This would prevent China from "having to funnel oil from Africa and the Middle East through the bottleneck around Singapore".[107]
Since the Myanmar's military junta took power as the State Peace and Development Council junta in 1988, the ties between China's People's Liberation Army and Myanmar's military forces developed and formalised key ties between the two states. China became Myanmar's key source of aid, loans and other financial assistance. China remained Myanmar's biggest foreign investor in 2013 even after the economy opened up to other providers like Japan and India. Chinese monetary assistance allowed China to gain structural power of Myanmar and a dominant position within the natural resource sector. During this period, an underdeveloped Burmese industrial sector was driven in part by Chinese investment and consumption of a few key extractive sectors such as mining, driving domestic production away from consumer goods sectors like textiles and electronics.[108]
Legal two-way trade between Burma and mainland China reached US$1.5 billion annually by 1988 and additional Chinese trade, investment, economic, and military aid was sought to invigorate and jumpstart the re-emerging Burmese economy.[citation needed] An influx of foreign capital investment from mainland China, Germany, and France has led to the development of new potential construction projects across Burma.[109] Many of these infrastructure projects are in the hands of Chinese construction contractors and civil engineers with various projects such as irrigation dams, highways, bridges, ground satellite stations, and an international airport for Mandalay.[110][111] Burmese entrepreneurs of Chinese ancestry have also established numerous joint ventures and corporate partnerships with mainland Chinese State-owned enterprises to facilitate the construction of oil pipelines that potentially could create thousands of jobs throughout the country.[citation needed] Private Chinese companies rely on the established overseas Chinese bamboo network as a conduit between mainland China and Burmese Chinese businesses to navigate the local economic landscape and facilitate trade between the two countries. Mainland China is now Burma's most important source of foreign goods and services as well as one of the most important sources of capital for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. In the fiscal year 2013, Chin accounted for 61 percent of all foreign direct investment.[112] Between 2007 and 2015, Chinese FDI increased from US$775 million to US$21.867 billion accounting for 40 percent of all FDI in the country. Much of this investment went into Burma's energy and mining industries.[113] Chinese private firms account for 87% percent of total legal cross-border trade at Ruili and have a considerable amount of structural power over the illicit economy of Myanmar. Chinese structural power over Burma's structure of finance also allows China to maintain a dominant position within the country's natural resource sector, primarily Burma's latent oil, gas, and uranium sectors.[114] China's position as the country's primary investor also allows it to be its largest consumer of its extractive industries. Many Chinese state-owned enterprises have set their sights on Burma's high-value natural resource industries such as raw jade stones, teak and timber, rice, and marine fisheries.[115]
Foreign aid
The level of international aid to Burma ranks amongst the lowest in the world (and the lowest in the Southeast Asian region)[116]—Burma receives $4 per capita in development assistance, as compared to the average of $42.30 per capita.[117][118]
In April 2007, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified the financial and other restrictions that the military government places on international humanitarian assistance in the Southeast Asian country. The GAO report, entitled "Assistance Programs Constrained in Burma," outlines the specific efforts of the Burmese government to hinder the humanitarian work of international organisations, including by restricting the free movement of international staff within the country. The report notes that the regime has tightened its control over assistance work since former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was purged in October 2004.
Furthermore, the reports states that the military government passed guidelines in February 2006, which formalised Burma's restrictive policies. According to the report, the guidelines require that programs run by humanitarian groups "enhance and safeguard the national interest" and that international organisations co-ordinate with state agents and select their Burmese staff from government-prepared lists of individuals. United Nations officials have declared these restrictions unacceptable.
The shameful behavior of Burma's military regime in tying the hand of humanitarian organizations is laid out in these pages for all to see, and it must come to an end," said U.S. Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA). "In eastern Burma, where the military regime has burned or otherwise destroyed over 3,000 villages, humanitarian relief has been decimated. At least one million people have fled their homes and many are simply being left to die in the jungle."
US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) said that the report "underscores the need for democratic change in Burma, whose military regime arbitrarily arrests, tortures, rapes and executes its own people, ruthlessly persecutes ethnic minorities, and bizarrely builds itself a new capital city while failing to address the increasingly urgent challenges of refugee flows, illicit narcotics and human trafficking, and the spread of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases."[119]
Exchange rates: kyats per US dollar – 1,205 (2008 est.), 1,296 (2007), 1,280 (2006), 5.82 (2005), 5.7459 (2004), 6.0764 (2003) note: unofficial exchange rates ranged in 2004 from 815 kyat/US dollar to nearly 970 kyat/US dollar, and by year end 2005, the unofficial exchange rate was 1,075 kyat/US dollar; data shown for 2003–05 are official exchange rates
Foreign Direct Investment In the first eight months, Myanmar has received investment of US$5.7 billion. Singapore has remained as the top source of foreign direct investments into Myanmar in the financial year of 2019-2020 with 20 Singapore-listed enterprises bringing in US$1.85 billion into Myanmar in the financial year 2019-2020. Hong Kong stood as the second-largest investors with an estimated capital of US$1.42 billion from 46 enterprises, followed by Japan investing $760 million in Myanmar.[121]
Foreign Trade Total foreign trade reached over US$24.5 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 .[122]
The economy of Cambodia currently follows an open market system and has seen rapid economic progress in the last decade. Cambodia had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $28.54 billion in 2022. Per capita income, although rapidly increasing, is low compared with most neighboring countries. Cambodia's two largest industries are textiles and tourism, while agricultural activities remain the main source of income for many Cambodians living in rural areas. The service sector is heavily concentrated on trading activities and catering-related services. Recently, Cambodia has reported that oil and natural gas reserves have been found off-shore.
The economy of Indonesia is a mixed economy with dirigiste characteristics, and it is one of the emerging market economies in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. As an upper-middle income country and member of the G20, Indonesia is classified as a newly industrialized country. Indonesia nominal GDP reached 20.892 quadrillion rupiah in 2023, it is the 16th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the 7th largest in terms of GDP (PPP). Indonesia's internet economy reached US$77 billion in 2022, and is expected to cross the US$130 billion mark by 2025. Indonesia depends on the domestic market and government budget spending and its ownership of state-owned enterprises. The administration of prices of a range of basic goods also plays a significant role in Indonesia's market economy. However, micro, medium and small companies contribute around 61.7% of the economy and significant major private owned companies and foreign companies are also present.
The economy of Kazakhstan is the largest in Central Asia in both absolute and per capita terms. As of 2023, Kazakhstan attracted more than US$370 billion of foreign investments since becoming an independent republic after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union.
The economy of Laos is a lower-middle income developing economy. Being a socialist state, the Lao economic model resembles the Chinese socialist market and/or Vietnamese socialist-oriented market economies by combining high degrees of state ownership with openness to foreign direct investment and private ownership in a predominantly market-based framework.
The economy of Malaysia is an emerging and developing, upper-middle income, highly industrialised, mixed economy. It ranks the 36th largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP, however, when measured by purchasing power parity, its GDP climbs to the 30th largest. Malaysia is forecasted to have a nominal GDP of nearly half a trillion US$ by the end of 2024. The labour productivity of Malaysian workers is the third highest in ASEAN and significantly higher than Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
The economy of Thailand is dependent on exports, which accounted in 2021 for about 58 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Thailand itself is a newly industrialized country, with a GDP of 17.922 trillion baht (US$514.8 billion) in 2023, the 9th largest economy in Asia. As of 2018, Thailand has an average inflation of 1.06% and an account surplus of 7.5% of the country's GDP. Its currency, the baht, is ranked as the tenth most frequently used world payment currency in 2017.
The United Arab Emirates is a high-income developing market economy. The UAE's economy is the 4th largest in the Middle East, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$415 billion in 2021-2023.
The economy of Vietnam is a developing mixed socialist-oriented market economy. It is the 33rd-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 26th-largest economy in the world by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is a lower-middle income country with a low cost of living. Vietnam is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the World Trade Organization.
The 1997 Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1999 was rapid, and worries of a meltdown quickly subsided.
The economy of Asia comprises about 4.7 billion people living in 50 different nations. Asia is the fastest growing economic region, as well as the largest continental economy by both GDP Nominal and PPP in the world. Moreover, Asia is the site of some of the world's longest modern economic booms.
In its economic relations, Japan is both a major trading nation and one of the largest international investors in the world. In many respects, international trade is the lifeblood of Japan's economy. Imports and exports totaling the equivalent of nearly US$1.309.2 Trillion in 2017, which meant that Japan was the world's fourth largest trading nation after China, the United States and Germany. Trade was once the primary form of Japan's international economic relationships, but in the 1980s its rapidly rising foreign investments added a new and increasingly important dimension, broadening the horizons of Japanese businesses and giving Japan new world prominence.
Foreign direct investment in Iran (FDI) has been hindered by unfavorable or complex operating requirements and by international sanctions, although in the early 2000s the Iranian government liberalized investment regulations. Iran ranks 62nd in the World Economic Forum's 2011 analysis of the global competitiveness of 142 countries. In 2010, Iran ranked sixth globally in attracting foreign investments.
The economy of the People's Republic of China is a developing mixed socialist market economy, incorporating industrial policies and strategic five-year plans. China is the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP and since 2017 has been the world's largest economy when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). China accounted for 19% of the global economy in 2022 in PPP terms, and around 18% in nominal terms in 2022. The economy consists of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and mixed-ownership enterprises, as well as a large domestic private sector which contribute approximately 60% of the GDP, 80% of urban employment and 90% of new jobs, the system also consist of a high degree of openness to foreign businesses. According to the annual data of major economic indicators released by the National Bureau of Statistics since 1952, China's GDP grew by an average of 6.17% per year in the 26 years from 1953 to 1978. China implemented economic reform in 1978, and from 1979 to 2023, the country's GDP growth rate grew by an average of 8.93% per year in the 45 years since its implementing economic reform. According to preliminary data released by the authorities, China's GDP in 2023 was CN¥126.06 trillion with a real GDP increase of at least 5.2% from 2022.
The ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) is a free trade area among the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Republic of India. The initial framework agreement was signed on 8 October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. and the final agreement was on 13 August 2009. The free trade area came into effect on 1 January 2010. India hosted the latest ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi on 26 January 2018. In the financial year 2017–18, Indo-ASEAN bilateral trade grew by almost 14% to reach US$81.3 billion. India's imports from ASEAN were valued at US$47.13 billion while its exports to ASEAN stood at US$34.2 billion.
Foreign trade in India includes all imports and exports to and from India. At the level of the Central Government, trade is administered by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Foreign trade accounted for 48.8% of India's GDP in 2018.
Crime is present in various forms in Myanmar and is continuous with the activities of many drug trafficking financed militias at the eastern and western border regions, and with corruption within and challenges to the central government.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific countries of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The 15 member countries account for about 30% of the world's population and 30% of global GDP, making it the largest trade bloc in history. Signed in November 2020, RCEP is the first free trade agreement among the largest economies in Asia, including China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.
Myanmar, is a developing country and an important natural gas and petroleum producer in Asia. It is home to one of the world's oldest petroleum industries, with its first crude oil exports dating back to 1853. Today, the country is one of the major natural gas producers in the Asian continent. Decades of isolation, sanctions, a lack of technical capacity, opaque government policies and insufficient investment has impeded the country's efforts to develop an upstream hydrocarbon sector. Recent but slow political reform has led the international community to ease sanctions on Burma, giving rise to hopes of greater investment and economic growth. In 2015-2016, the petroleum industry attracted the highest-ever amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the history of Myanmar.
Corruption in Myanmar is among the worst in the world. Owing to failures in regulation and enforcement, corruption flourishes in every sector of government and business. Many foreign businesspeople consider corruption "a serious barrier to investment and trade in Myanmar." A U.N. survey in May 2014 concluded that corruption is the greatest hindrance for business in Myanmar. The ongoing civil war has significantly set back anti-corruption efforts, exacerbating the problem.
Myanmar had a total primary energy supply (TPES) of 16.57 Mtoe in 2013. Electricity consumption was 8.71 TWh. 65% of the primary energy supply consists of biomass energy, used almost exclusively (97%) in the residential sector. Myanmar’s energy consumption per capita is one of the lowest in Southeast Asia due to the low electrification rate and a widespread poverty. An estimated 65% of the population is not connected to the national grid. Energy consumption is growing rapidly, however, with an average annual growth rate of 3.3% from 2000 to 2007.
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↑ Reeves, Jeffrey (2015). Chinese Foreign Relations with Weak Peripheral States: Asymmetrical Economic Power and Insecurity. Asian Security Studies. Routledge (published 2 November 2015). pp.151–156. ISBN978-1-138-89150-0.
↑ Santasombat, Yos (2017). Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: Cultures and Practices. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.234–235. ISBN978-981-10-4695-7.
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54,617,807 (2024 est.) [3] 
