Reforming Myanmar courts investors at 'Asia's Davos'

Myanmar touted its dramatic post-junta reforms Wednesday in a bid to entice foreign investors as hundreds of world leaders and industry chiefs visited the long-isolated nation for Asia's edition of the World Economic Forum. Some 900 delegates from more than 50 countries gathered in the capital Naypyidaw for the three-day WEF on East Asia -- a regional version of the annual gathering of business and political luminaries in the Swiss resort of Davos. Foreign firms are queuing up to enter the country formerly known as Burma, tantalised by the prospect of a largely untapped market with a potential 60 million new consumers in addition to Myanmar's pool of cheap labour. They include Coca-Cola, which has returned to Myanmar after an absence of more than 60 years with a new bottling plant, as well as consumer products giant Unilever which will soon start production in the country. "This event is really going to raise the visibility of Myanmar to the economic community outside of the country," Heang Chhor, senior partner at global consultancy McKinsey & Co, told AFP. "Beyond the usual suspects such as agriculture, energy and mining and infrastructure most (foreign) companies are still looking at the potential of Myanmar. What are the opportunities lying out there in the next 20 years?" he said. The interest works both ways, with Myanmar desperately short of jobs, skills and infrastructure to drive an economic revival and lift its people out of poverty. "Our country very much lags behind... we lack contact with the other markets," said Wah Wah Maung of the national planning and economic development ministry, adding the forum is a chance to "market our nation". President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government has surprised the world since coming to power two years ago with dramatic political and economic changes that have led to the lifting of most Western sanctions. Hundreds of political prisoners have been freed, democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi has been welcomed into a new parliament and tentative ceasefires have been reached in the country's multiple ethnic civil wars. On the eve of the conference, former general Thein Sein said in a radio address to the nation that all remaining prisoners of conscience would soon be freed. Activists say some 200 political prisoners remain in jail and accuse Myanmar of using a series of headline-grabbing amnesties for political gain. Both Thein Sein and Suu Kyi are scheduled to address the forum on Thursday, but many participants are eager for a chance to meet face-to-face. "Many important people are trying to see the president," a government official told AFP as the WEF got underway. "But of course he cannot meet everyone." After years lagging behind its more developed neighbours, Myanmar is now taking steps to revive its impoverished economy. The currency was floated last year, there are moves to give the central bank more independence and a new foreign investment law has been passed, catching the eye of foreign executives. At the same time some delegates struck a note of caution for Myanmar as it opens up to the outside world, urging authorities to harvest new knowledge but resist investment that exploits the country. "Investors need to abide by the standards within the country or world," Han Thar Myint, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, told AFP at the forum. "We have to welcome countries that abide by high ethical standards." The former junta was accused by rights groups of plundering the country's natural resources for personal gain. The new government has pledged openness in an effort to reassure investors over corruption concerns. Experts say businesses entering Myanmar also face major hurdles, including an opaque legal framework as well as a lack of basic infrastructure and of government and private-sector expertise. Several outbreaks of deadly religious violence have also cast a shadow over the reform process. The country's "major challenge" is to persuade companies of the strength of its basic infrastructure and labour force as well as to build faith in its political stability, said Heang Chhor of McKinsey. A handout notice from the forum gives delegates some taste of the business challenges facing the country, noting that there will be no cash machines for international customers, credit cards are not accepted and the 3G network "is not available" for users of BlackBerry and other mobile phones.