Special Economic Zones for Myanmar

This report examines the current state of Myanmar’s industrial sector, draws comparisons to its neighboring countries, and discusses the potential impacts of SEZ policy on the economy. A key finding of the report is that even relative to other comparable countries in the region, Myanmar’s economy is dominated by commodity and natural resource sectors. Its manufacturing sector is characterized by low levels of productivity and attracts only a fraction of the foreign investment into the country. According to several metrics, Burmese firms are less globally engaged than manufacturing firms in other countries and face particularly high import and export costs.