Burma's economic relations with the USA

expand all
collapse all

Individual Documents

Description: "FOR the Southeast Asian state of Myanmar, the decision to expand ties with China despite Western pressure was a no-brainer. Significant economic ties have been expanded and the prospect for several large-scale infrastructure projects has been firmed up. Chinese president Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar could be considered a victory lap of sorts; the cementing of long-standing and ever-expanding ties between Myanmar and China and the final displacement of significant US and British influence in the former British colony. An op-ed on China’s CGTN website titled, ‘Xi’s New Year visit to Myanmar: A milestone in bilateral relations,’ would help frame the significance of president Xi’s visit while comparing and contrasting Myanmar’s ties with China and the US. The op-ed would note that president Xi’s trip to Myanmar was his first major trip abroad made during 2020. It is also the first major visit by a Chinese leader to Myanmar in nearly 20 years. Even US proxies can’t deny America’s decline THE op-ed also noted that Myanmar’s state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, picked China for her first major visit abroad after her National League for Democracy party came to power in 2016. To understand the significance of this it is important to understand that Suu Kyi and her rise to power were primarily driven by support from Washington. She and her political party along with a large army of US government-funded fronts posing as nongovernmental organisations and US-funded media networks were selected and groomed for decades by Washington to seize power and serve as a vector for US special interests both in Myanmar itself and as a point of leverage versus Beijing. However, despite America’s expertise in political meddling, what it lacks is, as the op-ed calls it, any concrete economic pillars; something China does have on offer. No matter how much covert or overt financial and political support any client regime in Myanmar may receive from Washington it does not address the genuine need for real development within Myanmar itself. Without such development and the financial and economic incentives it brings with it, enemies and allies of the client regime alike will turn towards those who can offer such incentives..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "newagebd.net"
2020-07-02
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title: But manufacturing activity across Asia showed signs of recovery as recent survey data indicated growth in late 2019.
Description: "China's factory activity expanded at a slower clip in December, pulling back from a three-year high the previous month as new orders softened, a private survey showed on Thursday. But business confidence shot up amid thawing trade tensions with the United States, offering some support for the cooling economy. Beijing and Washington agreed last month on an initial deal that will de-escalate their prolonged trade war. More: Date set for US-China trade deal sends world markets to new high Singapore slump: Economic growth falls in 2019 on trade woes Hong Kong economy to shrink in fourth quarter, says finance chief The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December eased to 51.5 from 51.8 the previous month missing analysts' expectations that the reading would hold steady. But it remained above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction for the fifth straight month..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
2020-01-02
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: "Myanmar expects to attract more investment as manufacturers seeking to relocate production from China to skirt US tariffs encounter capacity constraints in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation aims to woo a total of US$5.8 billion in foreign direct investment this year and cut back the red tape that deters some companies, according to a senior government official. “When it comes to relocation, Vietnam might be preferable but it’s already congested,” said Aung Naing Oo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. “So, investors are now eyeing Indonesia and Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
2019-11-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title: Myanmar’s finance minister has warned the country to “brace for any future unexpected shocks” resulting from the US-China trade war.
Description: "“Consequences of rising global economic and trade tensions on the financial sector are quicker and more severe as a result of faster global capital flows creating unpredictable currency volatility across the world,” U Soe Win told the Myanmar Global Investment Forum 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw this week. “Continuous trade tension and possible currency conflict between two large economies; abrupt changes in policy of one major economy taking a hawkish stance one day and then a dovish stance another day ... have been haunting many economies and leaving them with no other choice but to brace for any future unexpected shocks,” he said. Myanmar, therefore, has to “strengthen our macroeconomic environment to withstand these inevitable global contagion effects.” The minister told an audience of investors and executives that the government’s efforts have resulted in growth above 6 percent while inflation has been tamed at around 6-7pc. He admitted the country’s transition “may not have been on a bed of roses due to the presence of existing internal and external pressures”. But the administration has ”managed to stabilise our financial sector to some extent by making our monetary and fiscal policy transmissions effective as much as possible with limited financial instruments we have at hand.” The government previously admitted that it had underestimated the economic impact of the crisis in northern Rakhine..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
2019-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: "Myanmar is proving to be a major test of strategic economic cooperation between the United States and Japan one which reveals wider foreign policy differences between the allied nations. Those differences make substantial collaboration towards realising a “free and open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) in specific countries difficult, despite joint strategic interests and aligned high-level political visions. In Japan’s pursuit of a policy response to China’s infrastructure Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), economic cooperation with partners in third countries to beef up the financing on offer has emerged as a key component. Strategic commercial cooperation is arguably most opportune and necessary in Myanmar because the country is at a fraught stage in its democratisation, set into motion in 2010 when it pivoted to form closer ties with countries like the United States and Japan in order to reduce economic over-dependence on China..."
Source/publisher: "Belt & Road News"
2019-06-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title: Myanmar continues to woo Japan and the US as a source of investments even as the global growth outlook dims considerably with investors preferring to stash their money in safe-haven assets such as US Treasuries and gold.
Description: "State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who gave the keynote speech at the Myanmar-Japan-US Forum on Fostering Responsible Investment held on August 20, held up Myanmar’s strategic location between South Asia, China and the rest of ASEAN, a growing economy as well as reforms that were underway as reasons why US and Japanese investors should look to the country as an investment destination. “Myanmar, positioned at the crossroads of Asia, constitutes a key bridge between East and West; a link between India and China, a doorway to ASEAN. Myanmar seeks to capitalise on this favourable position by connecting these rising geo-economic regions, offering a strategic trade conduit, providing a gateway to the Indian Ocean, and thus benefitting the country and the region broadly,” she said. Her speech comes at a time when foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments, an indication of future FDI flows, has slowed down according to the December 2018 edition of the Myanmar Economic Monitor published by the World Bank. The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) expects US$5.8 billion in FDI for the current fiscal year between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019, little changed from the $5.7 billion that was received in fiscal 2017/2018, which began on April 1, 2017 and ended on March 30, 2018. DICA data showed that for fiscal 2016/2017, the country received $6.6 billion of investments..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
2019-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title: The US and its allies must engage more directly with Myanmar, lest China’s influence derail its democratic potential.
Description: "Kachin and Shan states are home to two of the country’s longstanding ethnic conflicts. Fighting between Myanmar’s military and the ethnic militias creates security concerns for Beijing as the conflict sends a rising tide of refugees into China and negatively affects China-Myanmar trade through the border states. In 2011, renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army drove thousands of Kachin to flee to China, seeking refuge in Yunnan province. These refugee flows across the border draws unwanted international attention to China. Such publicity puts spotlights on China’s own human rights abuses, whether it be against ethnic minorities like the Uyghurs or the forced repatriation of North Korean escapees. China also sees Myanmar’s geographic location and rich natural resources as strategic economic opportunities. As part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, to connect China with Asia, Europe, and Africa, the Chinese are injecting billions of dollars into Myanmar, developing a deep-water port, high-speed railways, natural gas pipelines, and Chinese-style special economic zones. Beyond these security concerns and economic interests, China is trying to increase its political and social influence in Myanmar as well. China has supported Myanmar at the United Nations Security Council throughout the Rohingya crisis, which has forced more than 700,000 Rohingyas — a Muslim ethnic minority group — to flee to neighboring Bangladesh to escape military atrocities. By supporting Myanmar’s government on the Rohingya crisis, Beijing increases its popularity among the Burmese, most of whom refer to the Rohingyas as “Bengalis,” illegal immigrants that do not belong in their country. While China has given the government a pass for its scorched earth policies, the United States and other democracies have condemned Myanmar for its wide-scale human rights violations and systematic legal and social discrimination against the Rohingya people..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Diplomat"
2019-05-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more