Resource information
Introduction: "Emerging from five d
ecades of military
dictatorship,
civil turmoil
and
economic
isolation,
Burma has
lately
come to the
attention of
international
investors keen to
draw profits from the country’s vast
natural resources which
include
fertile land,
minerals,
oil, natural gas and timber.
Frequently
touted as
Asia’s next economic
tiger, Burma’s
new quasi
-
civilian
government
raises
the prospect of
fundamental reforms in national politics
and economics for the first time in many
decades,
but
the reform process is still in
its very early stages, and significant
challenges
of implementation
lie ahead.
While oil, gas and coal mining,
hydropower
projects and logging have
featured most prominently to date in terms
of investments in Myanmar, agribusiness
has emerged at the forefront of recent
government development policies.
The
political transformations that Burma is
undergoing
could be
a golden opportunity
for
the country to
engage in
agribusiness
to
achieve economic growth with
sustainable
and rights
-
based
outcomes.
However, a growing body of literature and
studies suggests that
Burma has
instead
become the ‘latest flashpoint in an
alarming trend’ of global land grabs.
Sources suggest that the land and resource
rights of local communities are being
undermined by legal reforms that seek to
liberalize foreign direct investment and
place all lands under the
ownership of the
State, with little indication
that
strengthened legal protections for the
rights of communities will follow..." .....has an excellent set of online references.
