Sufian Jusoh speaks at the Southeast Asia Seminar.
Myanmar or Burma has had its first fully contested general election in 2016, leading the formation of a democratically elected government which has taken steps to reform the governance of the country. The reform of the investment policy received a much-needed boost when the United States of America agreed to uplift economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar. However, the enactment of a new Myanmar Investment Law is only one piece of the larger puzzle of how to make Myanmar a new attractive investment destination in the ASEAN region. Myanmar is located between China and India, but is also a member of ASEAN, a grouping of economically dynamic Southeast Asian countries with its own recent economic challenges. This paper will discuss steps that Myanmar needs to take to make it an attractive investment destination, taking into account the existence of two major economic neighbours and the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. The paper will also discuss the constraints and challenges that Myanmar has to overcome in order to attract investments into the country.
