Myanmar

This chapter discusses the policies being undertaken by Myanmar which aim to achieve stable and sustainable development and identifies issues for further attention, particularly in relation to building up institutional capital. It focuses on four priority areas: establishing sound frameworks for macroeconomic and financial stability; strengthening the rule of law; achieving environmentally sustainable development; and creating a level playing field for the private sector. The section on macroeconomic stability examines the country’s financial sector and frameworks for monetary, exchange rate and fiscal policies. The discussion on the rule of law assesses the reforms and legislative changes underway as well as the progress made in strengthening voice, accountability and transparency. Next, the degradation of Myanmar’s natural resources, the sources of pressure on these resources and the country’s legal framework and institutions for environmental policy are discussed. The section on private sector initiatives describes the characteristics of Myanmar’s business sector before turning to examine the legal and regulatory frameworks governing private initiatives. The chapter ends with an examination of Myanmar’s human and physical capital stocks.

This chapter considers how and if economic reform in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) has reduced poverty and income inequality. It opens with a brief introductory section that puts CLMV in a regional context and outlines the themes the chapter addresses. The section on the CLMV experience of poverty and inequality – country by country – examines each country in turn, sketching its history from independence, its experience of war, and its transition from a centrally planned people’s democracy to a market economy in the 1980s and 1990s. In this respect, Myanmar is an exception as it is only now ushering in its first tentative reforms. Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam, however, have effectively rebuilt and reaped the benefits. Their export-driven economic growth has been strong. Cambodia and Viet Nam have diversified their economies away from agriculture and both are currently fostering eco-tourism and new green industries. All three have reduced poverty – Viet Nam by half. Income disparities, however, persist between men and women, urban areas and rural regions, and ethnic groups. Inequality has actually widened in Lao PDR. CLMV have much to do to ensure development is inclusive and sustainable: further build infrastructure and institutional capacity, widen equitable access to education and employment, make the business environment investor-friendly, invest in human capital, nurture small and medium-sized enterprises, weed out corruption. The section on CLMV countries briefly compares the four countries and their performance in reducing poverty and inequality. Myanmar is a constant exception, principally because so little data are available. However, the final section “Conclusion”, also applies to Myanmar: economic growth does not of itself deliver equally shared benefits for all.

Myanmar is a multicultural society comprising some 135 ethnic groups, with Bamar, Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine and Shan being the largest communities. Women’s equal rights are safeguarded in national legislation, as well as in traditions and dhammathats (customary laws). Despite this legislation, there is a gender-based division of labour: in addition to performing 80% of all agricultural labour, women carry the main burden of household work.