"It is not often that countries have the opportunity to undertake major development and reform of their higher education sectors, but that?s the position currently facing Myanmar. And inevitably there is a diversity of interested parties, both domestically and internationally, with firmly held views about what and how much to do. As is so often the case, there are rarely ?right? answers. With policy-makers in Myanmar approaching this challenge it is perhaps helpful to stand back and reflect on the role of tertiary education and think about what this might mean for the future development of the sector. The economic contribution of higher education usually features highly in any such reflection – whether because of its direct role in creating the highly skilled workforce that underpins longer term growth and development or because of its indirect role in driving economic growth through innovation. And of course the cases of Korea, China and the developed economies of the West are widely cited as exemplars in this respect. It is this economic contribution that fundamentally underpins what might be described as the ?business case? for investment in a country?s tertiary sector."