[ti:Burma Places Hopes for Development in Foreign Investment] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. [00:08.23]Burma is in a good position [00:10.03]to make big gains [00:12.77]in Asia's fast-growing markets. [00:17.43]But development must include all of society [00:22.29]and be sustainable for Burma to reach its goals. [00:26.39]That is what the Asian Development Bank said [00:27.82]in a recent report. [00:31.62]Cyn-Young Park is an economist with the bank. [00:35.79]She says Burma's economic position is strengthened [00:38.21]by its natural resources, [00:41.94]such as oil, gas and minerals. [00:46.11]It also has two large, growing neighbors: [00:51.40]India and China. And the nation is young: [00:54.32]one in four of its citizens [00:56.44]are under the age of thirty. [00:59.86]But Burma has a long way to go. [01:03.72]After fifty years of military rule, [01:07.45]it is one of Asia's poorest countries. [01:10.56]Basic infrastructure, like roads, [01:14.91]bridges and railways, are not developed. [01:18.77]And only thirty percent of rural people [01:20.89]have electricity. [01:25.74]Burma is trying to increase foreign investment. [01:29.78]Its civilian government is struggling to agree [01:32.39]on a new foreign investment law. [01:35.63]Recent versions of the law [01:39.30]restrict foreign ownership in some industries [01:42.41]and ban it completely in others. [01:46.58]Sean Turnell is an economist with Australia's [01:48.63]Macquarie University. [01:52.05]He said the foreign investment law [01:56.59]is now facing local disapproval, or push back. [01:58.85]SEAN TURNELL: "There's been a bit of a push back [02:00.65]against some of the concessions [02:02.33]granted to foreign investors. [02:05.07]In particular, there seems to be a walling off [02:07.74]of some of the sectors from foreign investors." [02:08.74]For years, [02:12.60]Burma's military closely controlled the economy. [02:16.58]Relatives and friends of military members [02:19.25]received rich contracts. [02:23.81]Now, the civilian government wants to expand [02:26.24]services and manufacturing. [02:29.84]It is considering giving foreign companies [02:33.02]low tax rates so they will invest. [02:36.69]But experts say this could be a mistake. [02:41.66]Sean Turnell says investors are concerned about [02:44.71]infrastructure problems, not taxes. [02:50.87]Economists also say tax breaks for local businesses [02:53.05]may not be the answer either. [02:57.15]They say the lack of access to credit for farmers [03:00.70]and businesses in Burma is a bigger problem. [03:04.74]Reform in Burma is still in the early stages. [03:08.35]The country recently announced new rules [03:12.27]ending direct government censorship of news media. [03:17.28]Reporters now must send censors their work [03:20.01]after it is published, instead of before. [03:24.49]Some reporters say they will wait to see [03:26.67]if this means more freedom. [03:30.46]Cyn-Young Park says investors too [03:34.57]are waiting to see if reform will succeed. [03:36.44]CYN-YOUNG PARK: "It is really going to [03:41.58]take a while before the investors do [03:45.13]believe that this reform is sincere [03:47.31]and the government is not going to retract." [03:49.90]The foreign investment legislation [03:53.51]could be signed into law as early as this month. [03:58.49]And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. [04:00.24]I'm Mario Ritter.