Category: Myanmar

Myanmar’s Bumper Poppy Crop

For the past 10 years, drug production in Myanmar has been on the rise. The amount of land used to grow poppy — from which the opium sap used to make heroin is derived — has more than doubled since 2006. According to the UN, Myanmar now accounts for more than 25 percent of the global area under illegal poppy cultivation, making the country the second largest producer of illegal opium in the world after Afghanistan.

To Achieve Energy Security, Myanmar must First Look Within

Myanmar is on track to be a major player in Asia’s energy security. It has an abundance of untapped resources; a geographic location strategically sandwiched between two economic giants (China and India) and has recently opened itself to world markets.

Yet the Southeast Asian nation faces internal and external challenges in developing a competitive energy sector. To create an investment friendly environment, Myanmar must first address internal security issues such as ethnic conflict while juggling its external relationships with China and the West.

Myanmar Pressed to Push Rights Reforms Foward

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has congratulated Myanmar for its November 2015 elections and acknowledged the country’s progress on human rights in a report by its Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. However, the March 2016 report also issues a list of reform priorities for the inaugural National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

It identifies continuing problems with the rule of law, democratic processes, human rights, armed conflict, and economic and social development.

Leaving Myanmar’s Ethnic Minorities on the Political Sidelines

For the first time in over half a century, Myanmar has a government with a popular mandate, led by the National League for Democracy (NLD). Although the Myanmar armed forces still have extensive political powers under the 2008 constitution, and may seriously curtail the independent action of the new government, the inauguration of President Htin Kyaw represents a radical increase in the internal and international legitimacy of the Myanmar State.

Myanmar’s SEZs are Quite a Prize

China and Japan are eager to be involved in massive special economic zone (SEZ) projects in Myanmar, amid rising economic competition in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Since 2011, Myanmar has rapidly improved its diplomatic relations with the West and Japan in order to broaden its economic relations and mitigate its excessive dependence on China.

Update: Myanmar’s Leadership is Taking Shape

The character and composition of Myanmar’s new National League for Democracy (NLD) government is gradually taking shape after the party’s sweeping victory in the November 2015 elections. A peaceful and orderly transfer of power from the former military-dominated government of reformist president Thein Sein culminated in the swearing in of the new government on 30 March.

Is Myanmar’s NLD Up to the Challenge?

The National League for Democracy (NLD) won Myanmar’s national election on 8 November 2015 with an overwhelming majority, but formidable challenges lie ahead. When the NLD officially take over the reins of government on 31 March 2016, they will learn that winning an election, forming a viable government and holding onto power for the next five years of the electoral term are very different entities.

Myanmar’s NLD Needs to Up its Game

For the past five years, Myanmar’s transition has mainly been about building legitimacy. By implementing various political and economic reforms, President Thein Sein validated his government and, more importantly, the new political arrangement, created under the 2008 constitution. Now, with an overwhelming victory in the 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has the mandate to pursue political reforms in Myanmar. However, what can it realistically achieve?