Dealing with people who subscribe to the Marxist ideology is not as difficult as one would presume, especially when one looks at a country with two names but the same problem: an absolute lack of money. This is followed by a plethora of resources ready to be tapped into by corporate and government vultures eager to take advantage of its resources and eventual need for developmental assistance.
Myanmar-- or Burma for followers of Suu Kyi who dislike the ruling military junta's preferred official name-- are not the People's Republic of China who are communist on paper only, though they both share the recognition that maintaining power the good old Stalinist way politically is effective until it comes down to economics. When it comes down to economics, the stock market and the corporate agendas do the talking, not the Western diplomats.
With very limited development, Myanmar will have to take what it can get for business ventures. There is a catch-22 for this, however: Myanmar wants to preserve its image and its "state secrets", so information is highly regulated and thus not very inviting to the prospective corporate vulture or government watchdog.
So while prospective business ventures will have to take what little information the government of Myanmar can offer, likewise, Myanmar will have to take what it can get until it opens up its information and stops denying its economic woes. This is especially evident in what is the best site for information, and--ironically enough-- the worst site for information on Myanmar business due to being a propaganda vehicle of the government, the Myanmar Times, located at http://www.mmtimes.com/. Information is meant to entice prospective businesses, although without a doubt there is an extent of manipulation of information, since Myanmar sites are monitored by the government, and being an official governmental site means that it is no exception to this rule. Organization is very good though, as it has no pop-ups, very few advertisements since there is little need to advertise on a government-run site since they already have the funding for quality, categories for news as well as business are listed under tabs making it very user-friendly, and all news releases come on a consistent basis. Since contacts are directly with the government, interested parties can work things out with representatives. Furthermore, job offerings are posted on a regular basis, even from places such as the Italian embassy for folks in the lower echelons of the work force, making it a very accessible site in spite of the questionable government information.
It could be worse, though. Though the rest of the world can see right through the veil of the government, one has to essentially scour through sites full of the depressing reality that is Myanmar. With far more legitimacy but offering little incentive for people to do business with Myanmar, the worst site to go to would also ironically be the most informative, which essentially states that one should not do business in Myanmar.
This makes writing about business news feed a very grey area for business-seekers, as the most informative and honest site would be considered the worst for official business, and that honor goes to business-in-asia.com's link at http://www.business-in-asia.com/burma.htm. It is very honest with information, but you can't get any business dealings aside from a summary of the trade and a few contacts, though reading how Myanmar deals business on the site may turn people away from seeking business ventures. Site organization is more of a snapshot from a catalog rather than a news site like the Myanmar Times, but is definitely much easier to navigate, though information differs significantly. It even gives a general overview about doing business in Asia, which makes it a good resource in general, but not for Myanmar, because it is likely to turn aside the average businessman due to the many warnings against Myanmar.
We all know that in the end, it isn't the official business dealings, but the under the table dealings that promote the economic growth at the expense of human rights, where the only winners are the government officials and the corporate vultures who employ their knowledge of loopholes in WTO regulation rules.
No comments:
Post a Comment