The month of June marked the first anniversary of me travelling to Yangon for the first time. And as I was reading back on my notes, I was once again astonished by how much I learnt in the three days I was there. 

Going to Myanmar as a "newbie", I was under the impression that the country would be quite similar to Thailand given their geographical proximity and Buddhist culture. I was wrong. In my opinion, Myanmar is a true blend of Indian, Persian, and Chinese cultures. For a country that has had little international exposure due to the military regime since the 1980’s, I was shocked that almost everyone speaks good English. Much better than Thailand and most other Southeast Asian countries. Even taxi drivers speak great English. Fascinating given that jeans and pants still haven't penetrated the streets of Yangon; people almost exclusively wear beautiful and colourful lungi. Even dignitaries wear lungi and flip-flops (sandals) in official settings. I was the only one wearing pants, a suit and shoes! Lesson learnt for my next trip.

The country is emerging and people are not complicated. We can feel the country is developing when you look at the road conditions (and the power shortages that were quite common). Lots of work to do in the infrastructure area to ensure a proper development of the economy; build roads, ports, telecommunications line, etc. This is an area where the developing banks can truly showcase their missions. Traffic is already terrible during the day and will only worsen in the coming years as the middle class grows. It is quite shocking that almost 100% of cars on the road are old Japanese cars. It feels like La Havana, but with Japanese cars instead! 

What pleasantly surprised me the most in this country is the dynamism of its youth. This will be key to its development. Unlike most other Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar's youth are full of ambition, entrepreneurial spirit, and energy. Youngsters want to study hard, set up new businesses, and capture opportunities. Youth's energy is similarly palpable in Vietnam but Myanmar's government appears more prone to business and opening its economy. For this reason, I have great hopes for Myanmar. People appear to be delighted to have a relatively new government which is civilian-led for the most part and have created business opportunities now that international sanctions against Myanmar were lifted. Everyone is extremely emotional and positive when speaking about Aung San Suu Kyi and have great hopes she is juggling the cards well with the military generals to ensure the long-term success of her country. The other good news for Myanmar is that unlike Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and other South Asian countries, youth in Myanmar want to stay in Myanmar. This will make a difference since they will create genius, retain genius, and attract back the Myanmarese diaspora. 

We can see tons of Japanese, Chinese, and British business people around town. ADB, IFC, IMF, and other international financing institutions were very present (luckily enough, I met a few officers at the hotel where I stayed) and are working on several infrastructure and hospitality projects. Everyone I met informed me that the biggest hurdle to foreign and domestic investors is the poor standard of corporate governance. Taxation and reporting standards are sub-optimal, and most documents remain paper-based given not all government departments operate on computers. It will take, in my opinion, a generation to change. The other biggest challenge for the growth of the economy and the capital market is the shortage of trained and experienced professionals. Universities have limited access to professors, businesses have little access to talent, and government bodies have now acquired the brightest young people but they have no experience. Establishing more private training schools will be key.

Myanmar's future is young. I look forward to observing its evolution along with my future travels in this gorgeous country.

For more information email William Boivin of CFA Institute via the contact details below.

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