More than three months ago, on April 21, amid great fanfare, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at a Japan-Mekong summit pledged $7.4 billion in development aid to five Southeast Asian nations in an effort to promote cooperation with countries in the Mekong region. The prime minister also said Japan would forgive $3.7 billion of Myanmar's debt as a way to support the democratic and economic reforms in Myanmar (aka Burma).
Understandably, Japanese companies — from construction and engineering to consumer products — and development and aid agencies celebrated the news, and the opportunity to enter or expand efforts in Asia's newest frontier market. Japanese support for a special economic zone near Yangon, also known as Rangoon, could well also give Japanese firms a head start in winning business.
For Japanese and now Western companies no longer constrained by economic sanctions or public sentiment against operating in the once pariah nation, the question remains, however: Is this a "Burma bubble" or the start of a "Myanmar miracle"?
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