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YANGON ROLLS OUT THE WELCOME MAT "When you arrive at Yangon Airport, you should set your watch 50 years back", says Maung Maung Lay as he leans forward and mockingly points at his wrist. Text by Basfin Siregar - GATRA Magazine | Photos by Martine Perret, Al Scrapeo
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he Vice President of Myanmar's Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (UMFCCI) makes no bones about just how underdeveloped Myanmar is compared to other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. Investors arriving in Yangon for the first time quickly appreciate the lack of pretence. Since Myanmar opened its economy two years ago, the once sleepy city is getting more busy, crowded and gridlocked in traffic jams by the day. "A lot has changed over the past two years", says Rika Gartika, the Second Secretary at the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon. Two years ago, there were almost no private cars on the streets. But as the reforms gathered pace, many used cars were imported from Japan, and the new Toyota mini-van – mostly used as taxis – quickly came to dominate the roads. Signs of economic reform abound. One of them is Junction Square, a glitzy new shopping mall thronged with nouveau riches and the curious sampling expensive price tags. "The prices of many goods have increased", says Gartika. One can easily find many western brands in the mall, even a 3D cinema. When Gatra visited, the latest blockbuster movie from Hollywood, "Pacific Rim" was playing for 3000 kyat a ticket, about $3.00. "Myanmar is changing rapidly", says Pyae Sone Oo, a rice trader whose company exports half a million tonnes of rice to Africa this year.
Signs that something was afoot after half a century of military rule began to emerge in 2010 when the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council, shed its uniforms for civilian clothes and formed a political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The USDP had won elections in 2010 amidst widespread allegations of vote-rigging. Unbeknownst to many, the vote was the last step in a so-called seven-step road map towards democracy that reached back to 2003, the year when national democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi narrowly survived an armed attack on her convoy. Today there are still many barriers seemingly specifically designed to prevent "The Lady" from winning the muchanticipated presidential election in 2015, such as a constitutional clause prohibiting a presidential candidate to have children with foreign nationals – both of Su Kyi's sons are British. The reforms, however, have brought on vast changes in Myanmar's virgin economy. Foreign companies have been pouring in since well before the ink on the country's new investment law had dried. Among them Thai state-owned oil and gas company PTT and its Malaysian counterpart Petronas. Indonesia's Pertamina was, as usual, late. "Myanmar is now a darling of the international community", Maung Lay says with a broad grin. 04
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