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*[[Developing country|Developing/Emerging]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asian Development Bank and Myanmar: Economy |url=https://www.adb.org/where-we-work/myanmar/economy |website=ADB.org |date=10 August 2022 |publisher=[[Asian Development Bank]] |access-date=26 March 2024 |archive-date=26 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326111409/https://www.adb.org/where-we-work/myanmar/economy |url-status=live }}</ref>
*Lower-middle income economy<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Country and Lending Groups |url=https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups |website=datahelpdesk.worldbank.org |publisher=[[World Bank]] |access-date=6 March 2020 |archive-date=28 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028223324/https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
| population = {{increase}} 54,
| gdp = {{plainlist|
*{{
*{{
}} | gdp rank = {{plainlist|
*[[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|86th (nominal, 2023)]]
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The '''economy of [[Myanmar]]''' is the seventh largest in [[Southeast Asia]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/MMR |website=IMF |access-date=28 April 2023 |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428232742/https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/MMR |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[2011–2015 Myanmar political reforms|return of civilian rule in 2011]], the new government launched [[Economic liberalization in Myanmar|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=August 2014 |title=Myanmar: Unlocking the Potential |url=https://www.adb.org/publications/myanmar-unlocking-potential |journal=Asian Development Bank |access-date=22 October 2023 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030104927/https://www.adb.org/publications/myanmar-unlocking-potential |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2" /> Myanmar has faced an economic crisis since the [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état|2021 coup d'état]]. According to [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) Myanmar GDP per capita in 2024 is est to reach $1.179▼
▲The '''economy of [[Myanmar]]''' is the seventh largest in [[Southeast Asia]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/MMR |website=IMF |access-date=28 April 2023 |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428232742/https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/MMR |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[2011–2015 Myanmar political reforms|return of civilian rule in 2011]], the new government launched [[Economic liberalization in Myanmar|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=August 2014 |title=Myanmar: Unlocking the Potential |url=https://www.adb.org/publications/myanmar-unlocking-potential |journal=Asian Development Bank |access-date=22 October 2023 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030104927/https://www.adb.org/publications/myanmar-unlocking-potential |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2" /> Myanmar has faced an economic crisis since the [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état|2021 coup d'état]].
==History==
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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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watkins |first=Thayer |title=Political and Economic History of Myanmar (Burma) Economics |url=http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/burma.htm |access-date=8 July 2006 |publisher=San Jose State University |archive-date=26 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526144053/http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/burma.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watkins |first=Thayer |title=Political and Economic History of Myanmar (Burma) Economics |url=http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/burma.htm |access-date=8 July 2006 |publisher=San José State University |archive-date=26 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526144053/http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/burma.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name="ruin">{{Cite news |last=Tallentire |first=Mark |date=28 September 2007 |title=The Burma road to ruin |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/28/burma.uk |access-date=1 May 2010 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081122/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/28/burma.uk |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="woodsome">{{Cite news |last=Kate Woodsome |title='Burmese Way to Socialism' Drives Country into Poverty |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-10/2007-10-04-voa10.cfm?CFID=117290760&CFTOKEN=64840153&jsessionid=6630167e8fd1b43b9eef18506362225e1f2d |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208220245/http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-10/2007-10-04-voa10.cfm?CFID=117290760&CFTOKEN=64840153&jsessionid=6630167e8fd1b43b9eef18506362225e1f2d |archive-date=2012-12-08}}</ref> Burma was classified as a [[least developed country]] by the [[United Nations]] in 1987.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2005 |title=List of Least Developed Countries |url=https://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/list.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026045553/http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/list.htm |archive-date=26 October 2013 |publisher=UN-OHRLLS}}</ref>
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=== Economic crisis (2020–present) ===
On April 30, 2021, the United Nations Development Programme published a report indicating that the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar|COVID-19 pandemic]] and the [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état]] in February 2021 could reverse economic gains made over the last sixteen years.<ref>{{cite web |title=COVID-19, Coup d'Etat and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and Their Impact on Human Development in Myanmar |url=https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/library/democratic_governance/covid-19-coup-d-etat-and-poverty-impact-on-myanmar.html |website=United Nations |publisher=United Nations Development Program |access-date=10 May 2021 |archive-date=7 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507125826/https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/library/democratic_governance/covid-19-coup-d-etat-and-poverty-impact-on-myanmar.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Myanmar's economy has been in [[economic crisis]] since [[Myanmar coup d'état|the coup d’état]] in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |title=How the coup is destroying Myanmar's economy |url=https://eastasiaforum.org/2021/06/23/how-the-coup-is-destroying-myanmars-economy/ |work=[[East Asia Forum]] |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124093134/https://eastasiaforum.org/2021/06/23/how-the-coup-is-destroying-myanmars-economy/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Military Coup Has Inflicted 'Permanent' Damage on Myanmar, World Bank Says |url=https://thediplomat.com/2023/06/military-coup-has-inflicted-permanent-damage-on-myanmar-world-bank-says/ |work=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124093133/https://thediplomat.com/2023/06/military-coup-has-inflicted-permanent-damage-on-myanmar-world-bank-says/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title="The Latest @ USIP: For Myanmar's Economy to Recover, Military Rule Must End " Sean Turnell says |url=https://www.usip.org/blog/2023/07/latest-usip-myanmars-economy-recover-military-rule-must-end |work=[[United States Institute of Peace]] |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124093132/https://www.usip.org/blog/2023/07/latest-usip-myanmars-economy-recover-military-rule-must-end |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2023 |title=Myanmar Economy in Tailspin, 2 Years after the Military Coup |url=https://dkiapcss.edu/myanmar-economy-in-tailspin-2-years-after-the-military-coup/ |website=dkiapcss.edu |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124093133/https://dkiapcss.edu/myanmar-economy-in-tailspin-2-years-after-the-military-coup/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title='Riding a rollercoaster' in Myanmar's post-coup economy |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2023/2/2/riding-a-rollercoaster-in-myanmars-post-coup-economy |work=[[Al Jazeera English]] |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124093132/https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2023/2/2/riding-a-rollercoaster-in-myanmars-post-coup-economy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Myanmar plunges deeper into economic crisis |url=https://eastasiaforum.org/2023/01/24/myanmar-plunges-deeper-into-economic-crisis/ |work=[[East Asia Forum]]}}</ref>
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 [[Myanmar Kyat|kyat]] fell by a third of its pre-coup value, the [[Central Bank of Myanmar|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.<ref>{{Cite news |title=An economically illiterate junta is running Myanmar into the ground |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/09/15/an-economically-illiterate-junta-is-running-myanmar-into-the-ground |access-date=2022-10-04 |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004163107/https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/09/15/an-economically-illiterate-junta-is-running-myanmar-into-the-ground |url-status=live }}</ref>
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=== 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.<ref>Vakulchuk, Roman; Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing; Edward Ziwa Naing; Indra Overland; Beni Suryadi and Sanjayan Velautham (2017). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317954536 ''Myanmar's Attractiveness for Investment in the Energy Sector. A Comparative International Perspective''.] Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS) Report.</ref>
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.<ref>{{Citation |last=DuByne |first=David |title=How Myanmar can Hedge Foreign Loans for Geothermal Projects to Mitigate Kyat Devaluation Risks |date=November 2015 |url=http://www.oilseedcrops.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/How-Myanmar-can-Hedge-Foreign-Loans-for-Geothermal-Projects-to-Mitigate-Devaluation-Risks_David-DuByne-1.pdf |work=OilSeedCrops.org |access-date=22 November 2015 |archive-date=22 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122170827/http://www.oilseedcrops.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/How-Myanmar-can-Hedge-Foreign-Loans-for-Geothermal-Projects-to-Mitigate-Devaluation-Risks_David-DuByne-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Gemstones===
In 2007, following the [[2007 Burmese anti-government protests|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CBC – Gem dealers push to ban Burmese rubies after bloody crackdown |url=
The Chinese have also been the chief driving force behind Burma's gem mining industry and jade exports.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Circulations: Capital, Commodities, and Networks in Southeast Asia |last1= Chang |first1= Wen-chin |last2=Tagliacozzo |first2=Eric |publisher= Duke University Press |isbn= 978-0-8223-4903-7 |publication-date=April 13, 2011 |pages=215–216}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Chua 2003 28">{{Cite book |title=World On Fire |last=Chua | first=Amy |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-385-72186-8 |page=28}}</ref>
▲In 2007, following the [[2007 Burmese anti-government protests|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CBC – Gem dealers push to ban Burmese rubies after bloody crackdown |url=http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/11/19/rubies.html |access-date=16 January 2018 |website=Cbc.ca |archive-date=3 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703045949/http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/11/19/rubies.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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: "These rubies are red with the blood of young people." Brian Leber (41-year-old jeweller who founded The Jewellers' Burma Relief Project) stated that: "For the time being, Burmese gems should not be something to be proud of. They should be an object of revulsion. It's the only country where one obtains really top quality rubies, but I stopped dealing in them. I don't want to be part of a nation's misery. If someone asks for a ruby now I show them a nice pink sapphire."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reuters, Move over, blood diamonds |url=http://features.us.reuters.com/cover/news/MAN51776.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216034620/http://features.us.reuters.com/cover/news/MAN51776.html |archive-date=16 February 2008 |access-date=16 January 2018 |website=Features.us.reuters.com}}</ref>
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.<ref name="bmp">{{Cite news |date=20 February 2013 |title=Mining block permits issued in Myanmar |publisher=Investvine.com |url=http://investvine.com/mining-block-permits-issued-in-myanmar/ |access-date=20 February 2013 |archive-date=4 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304160838/http://investvine.com/mining-block-permits-issued-in-myanmar/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.jewellerynet.com/en/jnanews/features/23180/061019-Belpearl-Auctions-Connecting-the-pearl-business-to-global-markets |title=Belpearl Auctions: Connecting the pearl business to global markets|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 10 June 2019|website= jewellerynet.com|publisher= |access-date= 13 December 2024}} </ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1185717/myanmars-golden-pearls-fetch-top-price-auction|title= Myanmar's golden pearls fetch top price at auction|last= Choi|first= Christy|date= 8 March 2013|website= [[South China Morning Post]]|publisher= |access-date= 13 December 2024|archive-date= 26 April 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170426104916/https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1185717/myanmars-golden-pearls-fetch-top-price-auction|url-status= bot: unknown}}</ref>
===Tourism===
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==Foreign investment and aid==▼
According to the CIA World Factbook,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/burma/ |access-date=3 March 2015 |website=Cia.gov |archive-date=10 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210200835/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/burma/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{blockquote|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. [[2003 Myanmar Banking Crisis|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.
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.<ref name="investvine">{{cite web |last=Calderon |first=Justin |date=24 April 2013 |title=End of EU sanctions augurs Myanmar rush |url=http://investvine.com/end-of-eu-sanctions-augurs-myanmar-rush/ |access-date=29 April 2013 |website=Inside Investor |archive-date=17 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617191152/http://investvine.com/end-of-eu-sanctions-augurs-myanmar-rush/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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''[[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.<ref name="Economist Rite">{{Cite news |date=25 May 2013 |title=Geopolitical consequences: Rite of passage |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21578174-opening-up-myanmar-could-transform-rest-asia-rite-passage |access-date=31 May 2013 |archive-date=31 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531041427/http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21578174-opening-up-myanmar-could-transform-rest-asia-rite-passage |url-status=live }}</ref> Near the [[Mingaladon Township|Mingaladon]] Industrial Park, for example, Japanese-owned factories have risen from the "debris" caused by "decades of sanctions and economic mismanagement."<ref name="Economist Rite" /> Japanese Prime Minister [[Shinzō Abe]] has identified Burma as an economically attractive market that will help stimulate the Japanese economy.<ref name="Economist Rite" /> 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]].<ref name="Economist Rite" />
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 Division|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.
===Chinese investment===
{{main|BCIM Economic Corridor}}
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".<ref name="Economist Rite" />
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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Foreign Relations with Weak Peripheral States: Asymmetrical Economic Power and Insecurity |last=Reeves |first=Jeffrey |publisher= Routledge |year=2015 |isbn= 978-1-138-89150-0 |series=Asian Security Studies |publication-date=November 2, 2015 |pages=153-156}}</ref>
[[File:Myanmar-China Border Yanlonkyine Gate.jpg|thumb|right|Yanlonkyine Gate on the Myanmar-China Border within [[Kokang Self-Administered Zone]] in 2019.]]
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.{{cn|date=September 2024}} An influx of foreign capital investment from mainland China, Germany, and France has led to the development of new potential construction projects across Burma.<ref>{{Cite book |title=China's Asian Dream: Empire Building Along the New Silk Road |last= Miller |first=Tom |publisher=Zed Books |year=2017 |isbn= 978-1-78360-923-9}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=World On Fire |last=Chua | first=Amy |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-385-72186-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/25 25] |url=https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/25 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Impact of China's Rise on the Mekong Region |last=Santasombat |first=Yos |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-349-69307-8}}</ref> 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.{{cn|date=September 2024}} 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: Cultures and Practices |last=Santasombat |first=Yos |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |year=2017 |isbn=978-981-10-4695-7 |pages=234–236}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: Cultures and Practices |last=Santasombat |first=Yos |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |year=2017 |isbn=978-981-10-4695-7 |page=235}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Foreign Relations with Weak Peripheral States: Asymmetrical Economic Power and Insecurity |last=Reeves |first=Jeffrey |publisher= Routledge |year=2015 |isbn= 978-1-138-89150-0 |series=Asian Security Studies |publication-date=November 2, 2015 |pages=151-156}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: Cultures and Practices |last=Santasombat |first=Yos |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |year=2017 |isbn=978-981-10-4695-7 |pages=234–235}}</ref>
===Foreign aid===
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'''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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Singapore tops source of FDIs in Myanmar in 2020-2021FY |url=https://consult-myanmar.com/2020/10/12/singapore-tops-source-of-fdis-in-myanmar-in-2020-2021fy/ |
'''Foreign Trade'''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Economy of Myanmar}}
[[Category:Economy of Myanmar| ]]
[[Category:World Trade Organization member economies|Myanmar]]
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