Better late than never. Myanmar has been thinking about opening a stockmarket since the early 1990s. The Asian crisis and a wary military junta stymied the plan. But as the dictatorship began to loosen its grip in the early 2010s, gradually opening up the economy, setting up an exchange became more realistic. Last week, it finally opened, with one company being traded: First Myanmar Investment Co., a local conglomerate.
"The debut is an important milestone" for the economy, says East Capital Management's Karine Hirn. The military junta isolated the economy from the global system for decades, but it has allowed political and economic liberalisation that looks irreversible, as Wirtschaftswoche points out. Aung San Suu Kyi's democratic opposition to the junta won a free election last November. The Asian Development Bank reckons that the country will need $80bn of investment in power, transport and technology projects by 2030 to modernise its economy.
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