14.01.2007

This is time for Burma to change Captain to save the economy

_ by BO AUNG DIN

Present day’s Myanmar economy is the pale shadow of heyday of Burma as the crown jewel of British Empire and Union of Burma during U Nu’s Pyi Daw Thar (Wealthy Peaceful Prosperous Nation Plan) Economic Plan with great ambition of providing each and every person with one brick house and a car. Former Prime Minister was not day dreaming but during the Korean War, rice prices sore up to the heaven and Burma was world’s top Rice exporter. After Japan, Burma could proudly stand as second richest country in Asia. ASIAN Tigers were still in foetal stage in their economic development; Thailand, Vietnam, Korea are far away behind us. India and China are still starving with famine and calamities. 

Even some Japanese women were working as Geisha girls or some even as prostitutes in Rangoon. Some Japanese were working in Burma as Dentists and some opened Photo-shops. Although some of them were spying in our country, some really wished to make a living in rich Burma.

I still remember the autobiography of the Tiger Balm father Aw Chu Kin. A Hakka herbalist left Yongding County in Fujian Province, China and established a medicine shop in Rangoon in the late 1870's where he developed and sold the balm. He had two sons, Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par. They moved the production to Singapore in the 1920's.

Tiger Balm father Aw Chu Kin wrote how their life was back in China, where there was no rice to eat and they need to search for roots, nuts daily to eat. He got the invitation letter from his uncle settled in a faraway paradise called Rangoon. He wrote how he had to stop and worked in Singapore and Penang to earn for the expenses to continue his trip to the far away paradise Burma. He mentioned about dusty, muddy leech and prostitute infested Singapore filled with thieves! (Sorry Burma Digest readers, I could not continue writing as my eyes are filled with tears because as the development scenario is reversed now.) In Burmese “The real Shwe Mhankin’ is now changed into a firewood!

Burma is between the two ancient civilizations, China and India. Burma is actually the virtual highway link between the ASEAN citizens in the south and their origin Yunan in northern.  Indonesians, Polynesians and Malays traveled through our village in 2500 BC and 500 BC. There was an old silk road from China at north-east to Indian subcontinent at south-west. And that high way was in our land. Those came down from north were met by the travelers from Indian subcontinent.

Later there was the Burma Road, which linked Burma and China. Its terminals are Kunming in China and Lashio in Burma. The road is about 1,130 kilometres long by the General Merrill and General Stillwell. When the Japanese overran sections of the Burma Road the Allies flew supplies over the Hump and built the Ledo Road, also later known as the Stillwell Road. Ledo Road was built from Ledo in Assam into the Hukawng Valley as an alternative to the Burma Road, which had been closed by the Japanese. It was completed in January 1945 and was renamed Stilwell Road by Chiang Kai-shek.

Now China and India are negotiating with Burma to build a modern high way liking their villages through our land. There is already an agreement to connect the gas pipeline from Rakhine to China. Therefore, these pipelines and highways would become the renaissance of our ancestor’s migration.

So there were a lot of travelers, migrants, victims of disasters and famine, war refugees and etc moving along the road and some of them settled in our Burma as we are located along their high way through out the history.

Indians came to Burma since 500 BC. Hindu Orrisa colonists had migrated towards Southeast and settled in lower part of Burma. Later other migrant villagers from the Andhra Dynasty from India migrated to Burma in 180 BC. Some took the long march on land and then some had sailed here.

Orrisa and Talingna people brought in Hinduism and Buddhism to our land. Talaings are believed to be originated from the Talingana. Some intermarry with Mons, who came down from China, intermarried and thoroughly assimilated into present day Mons. They give us the Buddhism arts, culture, literature etc. Spoken Burmese language was from Tibeto-Burman family and there are a lot of similarities with Chinese spoken language. However, our writing language was from India, Brami Script we took not from our native Mon but the Mons resided in Thailand. We should be proud that latest linguistic researches revealed that Chinese Sino languages are under our Tibeto-Burman family. Shans came down from China near Yangtze River. Karens migrated from further north near Gobi desert in China.

Many Chinese and Indians migrated during the colonial rule but some of them migrated earlier. In Burmese, “Visitors would come only if the host is rich and peaceful”. Yes, the presence of many migrants is the proof that our motherland or our country was rich and peaceful. However, nowadays many Myanmars are migrating out. It shows the deterioration of political and economic condition of our country.

It is no doubt the current condition of Myanmar is a result of failed SPDC Military government’s policies. With the economy shriveling, shrinking, with rising unemployment and high inflation, Myanmar is no longer competitive in the region and the flow of investment is slowing down and migration is reversed.

We are sad that Myanmar was not even included in the “Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007” Geneva, Switzerland 26 September 2006 –

Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are the world’s most competitive economies according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007, released by the World Economic Forum. Denmark, Singapore, the United States, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom complete the top ten list.

“The top rankings of Switzerland and the Nordic countries show that

1.       good institutions and

2.       competent macroeconomic management, coupled with

3.       world-class educational attainment and

4.       a focus on technology and

5.       innovation, are a successful strategy for boosting competitiveness in an increasingly complex global economy.

Business activity in these countries benefits from a well-developed institutional framework, characterized by_

1.       the rule of law,

2.       an efficient judicial system and

3.       high levels of transparency and

4.       accountability within public institutions.

5.       Excellent infrastructure is an additional positive feature of the business environment.

6.       Our indicators point to the rapidly growing importance of higher education and training as engines of productivity growth.

Countries that, like the Nordics, are investing heavily in education are likely to see_

1.       rising levels of income per capita,

2.       growing success in reducing poverty and

3.       an increasing ability to establish a presence in the global economy,”

said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Network.

The rankings are drawn from_

1.       a combination of publicly available hard data and

2.       the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum,

3.       together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report.

This year, over 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 125 economies worldwide. The survey questionnaire is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy’s business climate that are critical determinants of sustained economic growth.

The Forum annually delivers_

1.       a comprehensive overview of the main strengths and weaknesses in a large number of      countries,

2.       making it possible to identify key areas for policy formulation and reform.

This year marks an important progression in The Global Competitiveness Report’s methodology, with the adoption of a new, more comprehensive, tool to assess countries’ competitiveness: the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). Developed for the World Economic Forum by Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin of Columbia University.

“The introduction of the Global Competitiveness Index is a logical extension of the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness work. Changes in the global economy and the increasing complexity which characterize the business environment have made it necessary to develop an instrument that captures a larger set of factors affecting the evolution of economic growth.

“With the growing complexity of the global economy, The Global Competitiveness Report is a contribution to_

1.       enhancing our understanding of the key factors which determine economic growth

2.       and will help explain why some countries are much more successful than others in raising income levels

3.       and opportunities for their respective populations.

By providing detailed assessments of the economic conditions of nations worldwide, the Report offers policy-makers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation of improved economic policies and institutional reforms," noted Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter presents the results of the Business Competitiveness Index (BCI), an especially useful complement to the GCI, with its emphasis on a range of company-specific factors conducive

1.       to improved efficiency and productivity, such as

2.       the sophistication of the operating practices and

3.       strategies of companies and

4.       the quality of the microeconomic business environment in which a nation’s companies compete.

"The world economy is not a zero-sum game. Many nations can improve their prosperity if they can improve productivity. The central challenge in economic development, then, is how to create the conditions for rapid and sustained productivity growth," said Porter. Results of The Business Competitiveness Index (BCI) ranking are fully reported in the Executive Summary and available online at www.weforum.org/gcr  

The World Economic Forum continues to expand geographic coverage of The Global Competitiveness Report and with the current installment featuring a total of 125 economies, this Report is the most comprehensive of its type. This year, coverage has been expanded to Angola, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Lesotho, Mauritania, Nepal, Suriname and Zambia.

This year’s Report features a number of country-specific boxes on Argentina, Brazil, France, Hungary, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Turkey and the United States, providing an in-depth analysis of the issues affecting national competitiveness.  Moreover, the Report contains a number of external studies on pertinent issues related to global competitiveness and, more generally, themes which emanate from the World Economic Forum’s concern with growth and development.

The Report contains a detailed country/economy profile for each of the 125 economies featured in the study, providing a comprehensive summary of the overall position in the Index rankings as well as a guide to what are considered to be the most prominent competitive advantages and competitive disadvantages of each. Also included is an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators.

Highlights

A. Switzerland is number one in The Global Competitiveness Report for the first time, reflecting the country’s

1.       sound institutional environment,

2.       excellent infrastructure,

3.       efficient markets and

4.       high levels of technological innovation.

5.       The country has a well developed infrastructure for scientific research,

6.       companies spend generously on R&D,

7.       intellectual property protection is strong and

8.       the country’s public institutions are transparent and stable.

B. The United States, previously in first place, continues to enjoy

1.       an excellent business environment,

2.       efficient markets and

3.       is a global centre for technology development.

4.       However, its overall competitiveness is threatened by large macroeconomic imbalances, particularly rising levels of public indebtedness associated with repeated fiscal deficits. Its relative ranking remains vulnerable to a possible disorderly adjustment of such imbalances, including historically high trade deficits.

C. The Nordic countries hold prominent positions in the rankings this year, with Finland (2), Sweden (3), and Denmark (4) all among the top ten most competitive economies. The Nordic countries have been running

1.       budget surpluses and have

2.       lower levels of public indebtedness on average than the rest of Europe.

3.       Prudent fiscal policies have enabled governments to invest heavily in education, infrastructure and

4.       the maintenance of a broad array of social services.

Finland, Denmark and Iceland have the best institutions in the world (ranked 1, 2 and 3, respectively) and, together with Sweden and Norway, hold top ten ranks for health and primary education. Finland, Denmark and Sweden also occupy the top three positions in the higher education and training pillar, where Finland’s top ranking is remarkable for its durability over time.

D. Germany and the United Kingdom continue to hold privileged positions, ranked 8th and 10th, respectively. In the areas of the safety of property rights and the quality of the judicial system, Germany is second to none.

The United Kingdom

1.       excels in market efficiency,

2.       enjoying the most sophisticated financial markets in the world.

3.       Its flexible labour market and

4.       low levels of unemployment stand in sharp contrast to Germany, whose business community is burdened with sclerotic labour regulations.

"The top rankings of Switzerland and the Nordic countries show that good institutions and competent macroeconomic management, coupled with world-class educational attainment and a focus on technology and innovation, are a successful strategy for boosting competitiveness in an increasingly complex global economy."Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist; Director, Global Competitiveness Network

Myanmar under SPDC Military government policies are out of date and the future “GUIDED OR DISCIPLINED DEMOCRATIC MILITARY GOVERNMENT” is also showing no signs of improvement.. With the economy shriveling, shrinking, rising unemployment and high inflation, Myanmar is no longer competitive in the region, the flow of investment is slowing down and migration is reversed.

Therefore, this is time for Myanmar to change Captain to save the economy; if not, most of Burmese may abandon the sinking ship.

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Comments:

Yebaw Day said _

Dear Bo Aung Din, we will have to not only walk the Captain off the plank, but the entire crew and take over the entire ship. However, since the Captain and the crew are all well-armed, there is no way we can save the ship.
As for the ship, it is not sinking. No....in reality, the  smaller Burma boat is being jammed between two other giant pirate ships, the SS Kalah and the SS Tayoke and is in the process of being boarded and  taken over.
The worst part of this piracy is that the Burma ship captain is happily welcoming both pirates on board to rob the passengers.
Yes, for right now, we have to temporarily leave our mother ship....but  we will all be back to save them.
Just as you wrote, there is always
"Hman kinn ta-hlaet, Htinn ta-hlaet" A turn as the highest pinnacle, a turn as the lowest piece of firewood
and one day, the Indian and Chinese pirate ships will pay dearly for their plunder and regret their crimes ...worst of all the evil Burmese Captain and his crew.

Your Comments here_ can use win-Burmese fonts; but not symbols (:/\<>!|{]~#$)

Quote of the year:

There is only one solution.....could first be done by setting up an armed UN corridor in the ethnic areas.... to stop the killing and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.....Evan Williams

Last week's English article

• Academic Activists

• Speaking with a Leader of Philippine Senate, part 2

• Don’t be a Zat Pyet to Zat Thein

• People’s views on Ko Mya Aye

• Third Group: A Puppet Group of the Military Regime

• BURMA BRAINS GET 6 D's

• Irregularities in Burma's Education System

• Saw Bo Mya’s Revolutionary Life

• A Marriage Made in Hell

• Peacock Flags On The Streets

• Burma, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

• Telephone Campaign

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