Myanmar could undergo a major economic upheaval following controversial elections last year, as local media reported the country plans to privatise most of its state-owned industries. Deputy minister of industry Khin Maung Kyaw was quoted in Biweekly Eleven journal as saying reform in Myanmar, which is about to form parliaments after its first poll in 20 years, was in line with "other democratic countries".
The report follows a slew of privatisation's in Myanmar last year, leading some to suggest the junta was looking to hand assets to its cronies before a new partially civilian government takes power following the November vote. "While we transform as a democratic nation, we will privatise 90 percent of state-owned industrial businesses," Khin Maung Kyaw said in Thursday's edition of the magazine, which is not linked to the state.
According to the article, the government will run just 10 percent of industries after the move, but it failed to elaborate on which industries would be affected and whether the ratio is calculated on number of firms, or revenues. About 250 state-owned petrol stations, ports along the Yangon river and buildings, including cinemas and warehouses, were sold off to local tycoons.
However, economist Khin Maung Nyo told AFP that in the report the minister "seems to talk in general but is not specific and does not give an exact ratio". "We can say for certain that the majority will be privatised, but not 90 percent," he added. Sean Turnell, a specialist on Myanmar's economy at Macquarie University in Sydney, said the desire to privatise on a large scale was "plausible" but the logistics of the project would be a challenge to even a developed economy.
"But if it's just a carve-up and handing assets to regime cronies and oligarchs, I guess you could do it remarkably quickly," he said, adding that the recipients were likely to be "connected people". Turnell said powerful people associated with the regime may be "a little bit uncertain about how they will fare once the new government comes into power".
"In a sense parcelling up the assets now while the (current) government is still in power and able to do it has a certain logic." Turnell said he was sceptical that the 90 percent could mean big revenue generators like oil and gas.
Though state-owned petrol stations were privatised last year, he said the government subsequently imposed rationing and added the regime "always likes to keep control". Fuel demand within the country is high, with vehicles sometimes queuing for hours to buy petrol in Yangon. Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, remains one of the world's poorest nations following decades of mismanagement by successive military regimes.
The country also faces strict Western sanctions because of the junta's poor human rights record. Economic issues have been the catalyst for pro-democracy uprisings against the government, which took power in 1988. A massive and unannounced hike in fuel prices in August 2007 unleashed protests that snowballed into huge anti-government demonstrations led by crowds of monks, whose striking attire saw their movement dubbed the "Saffron Revolution".
Posing the biggest challenge to military rule in nearly two decades, it was dealt with mercilessly. At least 31 people were killed by security forces while hundreds were beaten and detained. Candidates elected to the country's new national parliament, which will convene on January 31, have promised to discuss economic problems as a priority.