Myanmar is also very rich in natural resources. Most people are only probably familiar with Myanmar Jade and Burmese teak. That is just scraping the surface of Myanmar's potential. Myanmar people are hardworking and resourceful like the Chinese, making use of their ingenuity to progress. China's position today does not come by luck, nor by lying, cheating, stealing and money printing, but by Chinese people's hardworking attitude and willingness to endure hardships. They endured humiliation for a century, knowing that every cloud has silver lining, and every dog has its day.
People may be surprised that Myanmar has oil and gas, lots of precious stone deposits, minerals and even gold, has abundant teak and forest resources, all hardly touched and exploited. Myanmar has not even been into manufacturing and just imagine what China can do by investing in setting up manufacturing over there, which will really be a win-win situation for both countries. Sure, worker skills need to improve and will only come from better education, but for low level industries like textiles, wood working and mining, the demands are less stringent. With better sources of development, better education could naturally follow, and economic development will ensue. Progress is not to be the prerogative and monopoly of just the West. It is universal.
Anonymous
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For all we know, Myanmar's development under a non-democratic Government may follow in the footsteps of China. Vietnam is also a non-democratic country, a socialist country in fact, and look at Vietnam's development. Is it so far behind other countries in ASEAN? Maybe that is one reason why the USA is finding excuses to put Vietnam down, knowing that most of Vietnam's progress had leveraged on Chinese investments.
Therefore, does it make sense for Myanmar citizens to salivate about the USA trying to bring democracy to Myanmar? Just look at Iraq and Libya and now Syria. Does that not provide any lesson for those countries vying for a piece of the USA type of democracy to be exported to them? A system of Government that is failing right before our eyes.
If Vietnam develops like China, that is putting another nail in the coffin of the democracy triumphing socialism hype. And the USA and the West must therefore put a stop to that. Russia, another socialist state, was also developing well under its relations with China and probably needs to be stopped.
On a trip to Myanmar in 2008, a Burmese tour guide told our busload of Singaporeans joking about the Myanmar landscape of rice fields by waking us up with the 'Mother of all Insults' that Singapore does not grow even one grain of rice. Which was true then.
One must realize that Industrialized countries have one disadvantage when it comes to food security. All the mega factories, all the capacity means nothing without access to food. When a country is facing starvation, no one will be thinking of EVs, smartphones, missiles, F35s, war and destruction.
Therefore, never discount the importance of the role played by farmers. Never look down on countries still surviving on agriculture. They will be the last to survive when the shit hits the fan.
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