It’s common to hear North Korea and Myanmar (Burma) lumped together as outposts of tyranny and sclerosis in Asia. In fact, their degrees of nastiness differs widely. Myanmar has posed a threat mostly to its own people, particularly ethnic rebels, while North Korea was spoiling for a fight with foreign powers like Japan. And these days the news emanating from the two countries couldn’t be more different. Kim Jong-Il’s death leaves North Korea more unstable and dangerous than ever. Meanwhile, Myanmar has come in from the cold under a reformist administration that has found common cause with Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader. It has begun to do away with antiquated laws and seek outside help.
As the ground shifts, so too have Myanmar’s wealthy tycoons, including business owners subject to Western sanctions on account of their ties to the former regime. The more outspoken of them are making it be known that they too can embrace reform, lest we see them as vestiges of an outdated system that is slowly being dismantled.�Among the most celebrated (or loathed) of the so-called cronies is Tay Za, who graced the October cover of Forbes Asia. He made his fortune in timber and has invested in hotels, property and airlines.
Now one of his rivals, Zaw Zaw has spoken to The Wall Street Journal about the current glasnost, the political economy and prospects for more foreign investment. Zaw Zaw got his start during the 1990s from car imports from Japan. He puts his annual revenue from mining, construction and other investments at $500 million, which seems to be a popular ballpark figure in Myanmar (Tay Za claims the same for his Htoo Group). Zaw Zaw’s profile has been burnished by his chairmanship of a popular football league, and in that capacity he hosted Suu Kyi in September at the VIP box at a stadium in Yangon.
In a rare interview with Western media a few weeks ago, Mr. Zaw Zaw said his goal is to strengthen the country’! s econom y and support the political shifts that led to Hillary Clinton becoming the first U.S. secretary of state to visit in more than 50 years.
Ultimately, the 44-year-old Mr. Zaw Zaw says he hopes the changes under way could lead the U.S. and European Union to drop sanctions and allow Myanmar to compete in the global economy instead of relying on China for support.
“We all have a role to play, and some people need to push while others need to pull,” said Mr. Zaw Zaw, who dresses in Myanmar’s traditional wraparound sarongs and is one of several tycoons singled out for sanctions by the U.S. and the EU.
via Myanmar Tycoons Embrace Change – WSJ.com.
Tay Za has also made inroads to Suu Kyi’s opposition movement, sending envoys to recent seminars where she has spoken. Other tycoons are no doubt reassessing where power lies in the new Myanmar. It’s telling that the Chinese embassy in Yangon, which has long shunned the opposition and could count on a hotline to the former junta, recently held a meeting with Suu Kyi. She’s expected to run for parliament in 2012, a remarkable turnaround for her and her nation. Of course, her courtship by the same tycoons who did the bidding of a regime that jailed her has a strong whiff of opportunism. Zaw Zaw told the Journal that he wants to see sanctions lifted so that the whole country can move forward and denies being a regime crony.
“If you become a millionaire in this country, lots of people complain,” Mr. Zaw Zaw said. Instead, he said he views Myanmar’s changes as a fresh opportunity for him to expand businesses and is already looking to link up with foreign partners.
“Everybody in the world is looking for something new, like Vasco da Gama,” Mr. Zaw Zaw said. “And right now they are looking at Myanmar.”
No comments:
Post a Comment