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After spending decades as one of the most isolated and least-developed countries in Asia, Myanmar is emerging as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Since a historic reform process began in 2010, foreign investment has been pouring in, driving annual growth to more than 8%, according to IMF estimates. Investment inflows and growing exports have also helped...

Two things are clear about Myanmar’s international trade: it is growing, and fast. By just how much is less certain – sources vary widely in their estimates, and even the best data available have obvious holes.

As it emerges from a half-century of economic isolation, Myanmar is undergoing an extraordinary surge of foreign investment and international trade. Of all foreign direct investment (FDI) accumulated in the country as of the end of 2013, half had entered in the previous three years, while recorded trade volumes more than doubled from 2009 to 2013.

Foreign investment in manufacturing, already strong, is set to accelerate further with the long-awaited launch of Myanmar’s first special economic zone (SEZ), located near the port of Thilawa about 25 km south-east of Yangon. A greenfield project comprising 2342 ha of former farmland, the Thilawa SEZ aims to simplify the process of foreign investment by providing a ready...

With late 2015 seeing direct elections scheduled for parliament and indirect balloting for president, Myanmar is currently passing through a crucial period of political debate, against the background of an era that was marked by rapid economic growth and international openness.

Myanmar assumed the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014, just three years after the government embarked on an ambitious programme of political and economic reforms that have opened the door to the international community after five decades of international isolation. President U Thein Sein, a former general who now heads a quasi-civilian government, told Myanmar’s ASEAN...