Myanmar risks losing fragile footing in global village

When the publicity is over, the real show must begin. Myanmar took the stage at last week’s Asean Summit and demonstrated to the world its willingness to hop aboard the bandwagon of free trade and civil society. International leaders discussed trade issues with their counterparts in Myanmar, but also expressed hope that the country’s reform process would be a success and deliver genuine democracy.

Welcoming the world’s leaders was a line-up of young women clad in traditional dress and representing a handful of the country’s 130 ethnic minorities. The scene was suggestive of national harmony, but sceptical media were quick to call it a sham. The women were, in fact, students and none belonged to an ethnic group. But the fact that the government chose to welcome global leaders this way indicates it knows precisely what issues matter to the world as it opens its doors.

Behind the beautiful display at the summit lie the real reform issues that the Myanmar government must resolve in the wake of political and economic liberalisation. The country is facing challenges of ethnic wars, cronyism, money laundering, tax evasion, corruption and outdated business laws, to name just a few. These problems are interrelated and the reform process must tackle them together. If one area of reform fails, it will have a knock-on effect on others.

As such Nay Pyi Taw needs to demonstrate that its road to democracy is more than mere window-dressing to satisfy the international community. Urgent action is needed in many areas, especially the legislation process. Here, the military must loosen its grip on the country’s administration if genuine progress is to be made. Figures show that despite its abundant natural resources, Myanmar is still languishing on the world rankings when it comes to business transparency and investment.

The country remains near the bottom of the transparency index, ranked 157th out of the 177 countries studied in the latest rankings. That poor performance reflects an investment climate that remains plagued by weak law enforcement and corruption.

The lack of transparency plus other unfavourable conditions has also seen the country named one of the top-10 most difficult places to do business in the 2015 World Bank Doing Business Report. Myanmar was placed 177th among 189 countries in the study – lower than war-torn and poverty-stricken Afghanistan.

Opening its doors to investors has put Myanmar in a position where it must show both willingness and genuine efforts to comply with global standards of civil society. The reform process might not bear much fruit for ordinary citizens in the near future, but the government must show steady political progress along with rapid growth of businesses. 

Potential investors will certainly show reluctance if they fear the law and its enforcement do not guarantee fairness. Myanmar’s continuing poor human rights record will also scare away international conglomerates keen to protect their good reputations. Strong laws and good enforcement would also help protect the country’s rich endowment of natural resources from being exploited by unscrupulous investors and corrupt local officials. 

The time for window-dressing is over for Myanmar. Having opened its doors to the world, it must now embark on real change or risk losing its fragile new footing in the international community.