All international financial institutions (IFIs) and their watchers

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Description: Background... Country Strategies... Project Monitor... Resources... Contact..... "After a 25 year-long absence, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) returned to Burma in 2012 in support of the country?s political and economic transitions. Following the election of the civilian government in November 2010, the leadership of President Thein Sein indicated, in the eyes of the international community, signs of reform. International donors such as the World Bank Group (WBG) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sought to support the reform process by deploying their staff, opening their country office, conducting assessments, rolling out their interim investment plans, and funding a few projects. Since their formal re-engagement in 2012, these multilateral institutions have stepped up their lending and non-lending activities. The civil society organizations of Burma, both those that are based inside and on the border of the country, were very clear in reminding the IFIs to avoid rushing into a country where the military still exerts a huge influence over the government (25% of the seats in Parliament are reserved for military personnel) and military cronies dominate the formal economic sector. However, donors continue to exhibit an overwhelmingly positive view about the prospects of Burma?s political and economic reforms and have already moved ahead with multi-million dollar projects..."
Source/publisher: Bank Information Centre (BiC) - "Amplifying Local Voices to Democratic Development"
Date of entry/update: 2015-03-28
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Search results on the Eldis site for "statistics"
Source/publisher: Eldis
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-18
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Updates on development schemes in Burma, with particular focus on bilateral and multilateral assistance; concerns and strategies.
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Burma Project conducts research and analysis on issues of development assistance from international financial institutions (IFIs) to Burma, with a particular focus on multilateral development banks (MDBs). The Burma Project also provides current information on these issues to members of civil society who work to protect human rights and the environment in Burma, so that they may be equipped with necessary knowledge, skills and a working network to assist them in ensuring that operations of MDBs in Burma are conducted in a socially and environmentally accountable manner, and truly benefits citizens..."
Source/publisher: Bank Information Center
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-18
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Read online..."Building on an initial assessment of constraints to development in Myanmar (Volume 1), this second volume provides analysis and policy recommendations in three key areas: structural transformation, education and skills, and financing development. It finds that Myanmar faces a crucial few years to shape growth towards a higher, more sustainable and equitable trajectory. To succeed, it will require a transformation of the economy from an agrarian base reliant on small-scale agriculture at present towards a broad range of modern activities. Building up the right skills in the workforce will be essential to support this structural transformation. Myanmar?s transformation will also depend upon how effectively the country can mobilise and allocate the financial resources needed to support its development, which could amount to as much as an additional 5-10% of GDP on average over the next two decades."
Source/publisher: OECD - Development Pathways
2015-01-14
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Read online only..."This volume is the first of the OECD Development Pathways, a new series that looks at multiple development objectives beyond an exclusive focus on growth. The series starts with Myanmar, a country to be covered for the first time by the OECD. This initial assessment shows that Myanmar?s success in achieving stable and sustainable growth will depend vitally on its ability to develop the institutional and social capital necessary to maintain macroeconomic and financial stability, to ensure the rule of law, to achieve environmentally sustainable development and to create an enabling environment for the private sector. To be sustainable, growth also needs to be more equitable and inclusive. Seizing the momentum created by the country?s opening and internal peace process will be imperative. Moreover, Myanmar?s increasing population provides a demographic dividend which needs to be reaped in the next couple of decades to boost the potential of the economy. After that, the population will begin ageing and Myanmar risks getting old before the incomes and living standards of its people can significantly improve."
Source/publisher: OECD Development Centre
2013-07-18
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Burma?s dramatic turn-around from ?axis of evil? to western darling in the past year has been imagined as Asia?s ?final frontier? for global finance institutions, markets and capital. Burma?s agrarian landscape is home to three-fourths of the country?s total population which is now being constructed as a potential prime investment sink for domestic and international agribusiness. The Global North?s development aid industry and IFIs operating in Burma has consequently repositioned itself to proactively shape a pro-business legal environment to decrease political and economic risks to enable global finance capital to more securely enter Burma?s markets, especially in agribusiness. But global capitalisms are made in localized places - places that make and are made from embedded social relations. This paper uncovers how regional political histories that are defined by very particular racial and geographical undertones give shape to Burma?s emerging agro-industrial complex. The country?s still smoldering ethnic civil war and fragile untested liberal democracy is additionally being overlain with an emerging war on food sovereignty. A discursive and material struggle over land is taking shape to convert subsistence agricultural landscapes and localized food production into modern, mechanized industrial agro-food regimes. This second agrarian transformation is being fought over between a growing alliance among the western development aid and IFI industries, global finance capital, and a solidifying Burmese military-private capitalist class against smallholder farmers who work and live on the country?s now most valuable asset - land. Grassroots resistances increasingly confront the elite capitalist class? attempts to corporatize food production through the state?s rule of law and police force. Farmers, meanwhile, are actively developing their own shared vision of food sovereignty and pro-poor land reform that desires greater attention.... Food Sovereignty: a critical dialogue, 14 - 15 September, New Haven.
Creator/author: Kevin Woods
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2013-09-03
Date of entry/update: 2013-09-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Executive Summary: "Each of Burma?s citizens has a stake in the country?s development and should have a say in how it develops its economic potential, including its human and natural resources. In the future, it is likely that Burma?s people will act to exploit their economic potential in conjunction with international economic institutions. To do so most effectively, they will have to deal carefully with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, and other international financial institutions (IFIs). They will also have to develop national institutions, strategies, and mechanisms to manage wisely Burma?s trade relations as well as the revenues generated by exploitation of the country?s natural resources... Burma and the IFIs: IFIs are profit-making organizations. IFIs do not wait for the establishment of democracy, the rule of law, and other good governance practices before they begin operating in a country. IFIs engage in a country when the IFIs decide that they will likely profit from such an engagement and when the country?s government and the international community are ready to accept such an engagement. Instead of helping countries implement national-development and poverty-reduction strategies devised with the participation of their citizens, IFIs often dominate the formation of such strategies to such a degree that the people of these countries lose control of the process. The IFIs see economic growth as the key tool for promoting development and reducing poverty, and they apply a narrow, blanket set of reforms to achieve it. This focus on economic growth and the blanket application of reforms, however, have failed to work in many countries and have had disastrous effects in some. In order to avoid losing control of development and poverty-reduction strategies and to make IFI assistance most effective for its people, Burma must have: a clear set of development objectives; a strategic, comprehensive social and economic policy framework; and good-governance principles and practices. Whether they live in Burma or abroad, Burmese people who favor a democratic government, a free-market economy, rule of law, and the development of sound political and economic institutions must begin as soon as possible to organize themselves; to gather information on Burma?s economy, its economic potential, and the needs of its people; and to devise their own comprehensive, strategic social and economic policy framework as well as good governance principles and practices. The Burmese people should be wary of efforts by the IFIs to re-engage in Burma before the establishment of democracy, rule of law, and other elements of an open society in their country. Burma will have to clear arrears of about $170 million before the IFIs re-engage. Burma?s people should be aware that the IFIs? lending practices put pressure on countries to borrow and that many countries, often by borrowing for large infrastructure projects that do little to promote growth, incur unsustainable levels of debt that pose serious problems.... Burma and Trade: As a consequence of Burma?s lack of a comprehensive, strategic social and economic policy framework, the country?s commodity-centered trade with China and other nearby countries is providing the Burmese only short-term gains that benefit mostly foreign interests and people associated with Burma?s military regime. Volatility in commodity markets makes dependence upon commodities an unstable basis for sound, long-term economic development. To capture long-term gains from trade, broaden the distribution of these gains, and stimulate development, Burma needs a comprehensive, strategic social and economic policy framework. This framework should take into account trade flows, exchange rates, Instead of helping countries implement national-development and poverty-reduction strategies devised with the participation of their citizens, IFIs often dominate the formation of such strategies to such a degree that the people of these countries lose control of the process. The IFIs see economic growth as the key tool for promoting development and reducing poverty, and they apply a narrow, blanket set of reforms to achieve it. This focus on economic growth and the blanket application of reforms, however, have failed to work in many countries and have had disastrous effects in some. In order to avoid losing control of development and poverty-reduction strategies and to make IFI assistance most effective for its people, Burma must have: a clear set of development objectives; a strategic, comprehensive social and economic policy framework; and good-governance principles and practices. Whether they live in Burma or abroad, Burmese people who favor a democratic government, a free-market economy, rule of law, and the development of sound political and economic institutions must begin as soon as possible to organize themselves; to gather information on Burma?s economy, its economic potential, and the needs of its people; and to devise their own comprehensive, strategic social and economic policy framework as well as good governance principles and practices. The Burmese people should be wary of efforts by the IFIs to re-engage in Burma before the establishment of democracy, rule of law, and other elements of an open society in their country. Burma will have to clear arrears of about $170 million before the IFIs re-engage. Burma?s people should be aware that the IFIs? lending practices put pressure on countries to borrow and that many countries, often by borrowing for large infrastructure projects that do little to promote growth, incur unsustainable levels of debt that pose serious problems... Burma and Trade: As a consequence of Burma?s lack of a comprehensive, strategic social and economic policy framework, the country?s commodity-centered trade with China and other nearby countries is providing the Burmese only short-term gains that benefit mostly foreign interests and people associated with Burma?s military regime. Volatility in commodity markets makes dependence upon commodities an unstable basis for sound, long-term economic development. To capture long-term gains from trade, broaden the distribution of these gains, and stimulate development, Burma needs a comprehensive, strategic social and economic policy framework. This framework should take into account trade flows, exchange rates,foreign investment, and domestic issues like infrastructure and education improvements, human resources development, and industrial development... Burma and the Resource Curse: Natural-resource-rich countries like Burma are more likely than resource-poor countries to experience flat economic growth, endure greater poverty, incur unwieldy debt, develop authoritarian and repressive governments, and suffer armed conflict. Receiving significant revenues in payment for natural resources can free a country?s government from the need to collect taxes from its citizens; this severs a vital bond between the citizentaxpayer and the government and dampens the government?s incentives to implement sound economic, social, and fiscal policies in a transparent and accountable manner. In many countries, revenues from extraction of natural resources actually trigger a decline in living standards and exacerbate social problems. Revenues generated by exploitation of Burma?s natural resources are helping to sustain the country?s military dictatorship, contributing to human rights abuses and conflict, and failing to alleviate the poverty and poor governance most Burmese suffer. Natural resource extraction in Burma has produced long-term damage to the environment; contributed to a decline in agricultural productivity; aggravated corruption of the government and civil society; exacerbated the illegal drug trade, the exploitat
Creator/author: Yuki Akimoto
Source/publisher: Open Society Institute (OSI)
2006-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-02-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 1.87 MB
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Description: The Burma Country Update provides information about recent developments, civil society concerns, and policy updates related to the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Source/publisher: Bank Information Center
2004-11-09
Date of entry/update: 2004-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : html
Size: 26.46 KB
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