Myanmar: Unlocking the Potential

For Myanmar to achieve its economic transition, considerable investments will have to be made in infrastructure and developing human capital, and progress made on building institutional capacity, a regulatory environment for the private sector to flourish, and a modern finance sector.

Highlights

A successfully integrated development policy framework for Myanmar will need to consider comprehensive development and reform planning and phasing. There are calls for a development strategy for inclusive growth based on three policy pillars. The first is to sustain high economic growth to create sufficient economic opportunities for vulnerable groups. The second is to make adequate investments in education, health, and basic social services to enhance human capacity, eliminate market and institutional failures, and reduce social exclusion. And the third is to install social safety nets to enable households to withstand livelihood shocks caused by, for example, natural disasters and economic downturns.

In all reform efforts, the government should embrace good governance, and strive for inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and regionally connected growth. Ensuring that the benefits of growth are shared broadly and regionally balanced stands out in a crowded development agenda. In particular, eight strategic pillars are presented to support the development mission and vision.

• Accelerating governance and public sector reform;
• Ensuring macroeconomic and financial stability;
• Creating a business-enabling environment;
• Leveraging rich endowments;
• Fostering internationally competitive sectors—manufacturing and services;
• Enhancing regional connectivity and integration;
• Promoting human development and poverty reduction; and
• Pursuing environmentally sustainable growth.

Realizing this mission and vision requires a great number of concrete actions to be taken in all sectors of the economy.