The Courage of Businessmen

As the world businessmen seem to be crazy about Myanmar’s democratizing steps, FT indicates, ‘You should not get carried away about it’.

FT says: Myanmar’s output is two-fifths that of Vietnam. Its workforce is unskilled because the annual spending on education is half that on defence. So it means hard for foreign investment to capitalize on the country’s low wage levels – half of those of Vietnam and a fifth of China’s. Public sector corruption is the worst in the world after North Korea and Somalia. Infrastructure is poor, yet public opposition to construction is rising. Especially, FT is concerned that Myanmar’s military hates being marginalised. FT reminds us the past ‘ominous’ conduct that the military government cracked down the last time the country opened up, in the 1990s, halting foreign trade reforms.

The objective sight by the economic press seems reasonably plausible, but if I dare say the one of business is thought unreasonable.

First of all, this is the very unskilled and low-wage workforce that the developed and developing countries are looking for. This simple and cheap workforce lacking in investors’ countries I couldn’t help telling Myanmar’s competitiveness.

When South Korea started the economic plans in the 1960s, public sector corruption was as very serious as today’s Myanmar is. As the grade of the corruption in South Korea is now a lot reduced, it still remains. The transparency is the ideal vision, but the reality is different. In the lush forest surely do poisonous mushrooms exist. Exactly saying, in the advanced countries there are the instituted and structured corruption such as financial moral hazards, excessive welfare and consumerism, abundant sex and porno industries etc.

Poor infrastructure is a massive opportunity rather than a weak point. It is a hasty prospect that halting foreign trade reforms in the 1990s could happen again. The 1990s has passed a long time ago. The military regime might have not agreed with the speed of opening up, but not the establishment and people seems postponing the reforms no longer.

In my opinion, it is guessed the military government takes the initiative of this reform, not enforced by Aung San Suu Kyi and her party.

The present military power might be modeling the Park Jung-hee government of the South Korea President of the 1960s and 70s. Maybe the military government could think their reform is more efficient, appropriate, and realistic than the one of the democratic government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Which way will be chosen depending on the people.

Anyway, businessmen must find invisible opportunities which general people and depthless scholars do not see. In Numbers of the Bible, only 2 persons, Joshua and Caleb, among 12 ones correctly evaluated the facts and truth, in exploring the land of Canaan.

Western businessmen do not have as much courage and passion as their ancestors. In the western economy there subtly seem full of heavy and big brains nowadays. (The end)