Myanmar

Investment & 
Operational
Climate

On February 1, 2021, Burma’s military seized power in a coup d’état that reversed the economic progress of recent years. The military’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protests destabilized the country, prompted widespread opposition, and created a sharp deterioration in the investment climate. Burma’s economy shrank by 18% in 2021, according to the World Bank, which forecasts three% growth in 2023. The regime’s ongoing violence, repression, and economic mismanagement have significantly reduced Burma’s commercial activity, compounded by the pro-democracy Civil Disobedience Movement that emerged in response to the coup. Immediately after the coup, the military detained the civilian leadership of economic ministries as well as the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) and replaced them with appointees who are beholden to the regime. The CBM has imposed severe foreign exchange restrictions that limit commercial activity, and the regime severely limits access to U.S. dollars. Onerous import licensing and foreign currency conversion rules, as well as frequent power outages and reliance on generators have dramatically raised costs for business and limited both companies’ ability to move inputs into and produce products in Burma, as well as pay employee salaries and repatriate any profits from sales and asset liquidations. Suspensions of internet and other telecommunications have restricted access to information and seriously hindered business operations, particularly those of U.S. companies reliant on telecom and Internet Service Providers that are increasingly under the direct control or ownership of the regime’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC). The Bureau of Industry and Security’s addition of the MoTC to its Entity List on March 6, 2023, limits most network equipment exports to MoTC without an export license.