Primary advantages: Cheap labor, natural resources, low crime
Norman Chang, president of Thai-Taiwan Business Association, who has organized groups of Taiwanese investors in Thailand to visit Myanmar, sums it up in a single sentence: “Lots of land, a large population, totally undeveloped sectors of the economy, and abundant resources—there are not many moments in history when a country like this, with so many untapped opportunities, finally opens for business!”
We can start with Myanmar’s geographic location. It sits at the hub of three rapidly growing economic centers: mainland China, India, and Southeast Asia. With an area of 677,000 square kilometers, it is about 19 times as large as Taiwan. Its population is nearly 60 million, making it the fourth most populous nation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It has rich reserves of petroleum, natural gas, and minerals. It also ranks number one in the world for both quality and quantity of rubies, sapphires, jadeite and nephrite. And when you also consider the dense teakwood forests and the fisheries resources of its long coastline, it would be no exaggeration to say that the people of Myanmar are sitting on a mountain of riches.
Another major reason why people are optimistic about Myanmar is that it has a cheap and abundant labor force. In mainland China, basic wages have multiplied several times over, and monthly salaries in coastal cities are fast approaching US$220 per month. In Vietnam, which like Myanmar is a late-developing member of ASEAN, monthly pay has already surpassed US$100 per month. By contrast, basic wages in Myanmar are about US$60–80 per month, a quite competitive rate.
In addition, Myanmar boasts one very unique advantage, which is that crime is very low. The main reason is that the people of Myanmar are devout Buddhists, and believe in karma and fate. Moreover, since the country has opened to the outside world relatively late, people are still not very materialistic, and cases of theft or robbery are extremely rare.
A number of Taiwanese businesspeople have said that each time payday comes around, even if the company accountant goes to the bank alone to bring back the entire payroll in cash, there is little concern of anything untoward happening. Still less is there any need for Taiwanese businesspeople in Myanmar, unlike those in the Philippines or Indonesia, to hire bodyguards to accompany them wherever they go.
Taiwanese businesswoman Michelle Hou, who runs a jewelry business in the Bogyoke Aung San Market, the most popular tourist destination in Yangon, says that she quite often leaves her employees to put away the extremely valuable jadeite and nephrite in the shop at the end of the day, and she has never once had to worry that anyone would try to take any home with them.
This new shopping center symbolizes Yangon’s growing prosperity, but behind the bright façade lurks the threat of inflation.