Foreign investment in Myanmar jumps as reform efforts bear fruit
2012-07-16 16:48:26
Myanmar's reform efforts have begun to bear fruit. The country's foreign investments hit a record US$20 billion last year.
It has also attracted General Electric to invest there, the first American firm to move in since the US eased key sanctions last week.
Now what Myanmar needs is its diaspora to return home and help kickstart the economy.
29-year-old Win Yee moved back to her native Yangon just two months ago, after spending the past eight years studying and working overseas.
Now, she has put in US$50,000 to start a firm providing advisory and secretarial services.
Win Yee, business development manager at Swift Net Asia, said: "A lot of my friends already went back a few months ago. They were working in Singapore too, but right now they see the opportunity and they want to go back. They can feel the changes in Myanmar; they want to contribute to the country and they want to grow in Myanmar."
Closed off to the world for decades, the resource-rich country is the second poorest in Asia, behind Afghanistan. That drove 60 million Myanmar nationals overseas in search of a better life.
The government hopes more can follow in Win Yee's footsteps. As economic sanctions on Myanmar are lifted, the country needs more skilled workers to drive its economy.
Win Min Phyoe, assistant director at Myanmar's Ministry of Commerce, said: "The estimation of our trade - in the 2007/08 financial year, it grew from US$9.7 million to US$18.1 million in 2011/12, that's an increase of more than two times. If the sanctions are completely lifted, our trade volume will increase, helping our trade to become more liberalised domestically and internationally."
Last week, the US eased key sanctions on Myanmar, paving the way for General Electric to become the first American company to invest there. This came hot on the heels of other jurisdictions like the EU, Canada and Australia.
However, Myanmar's government said the country's developments would have continued even if the sanctions had remained in force.
Win Zaw, an advisor to the Myanmar Ministry of Construction, said: "The sanctions actually doesn't influence our development, what we are doing is what we have to do anyway. Concerning my ministry, the housing development sector is the most important. The development also has to go hand in hand with development in the infrastructure, energy, and telecommunications sectors."
Myanmar has introduced political and currency reforms since its first civilian president, Thein Sein took over last March.
Foreign investment into Myanmar spiked to US$20 billion last year in the last financial year, accounting for two-thirds of all foreign investment into the country over the past two decades.