Myanmar – Power Is The Key

Keywords: Myanmar, economic development, electricity, project finance

Myanmar's emergence in the last 24 months as South-East Asia's most exciting business opportunity has rarely been out of the press. It has a large, youthful population, a strategically advantageous geographical location within the ASEAN community and, most importantly following decades of authoritarian rule, a renewed desire to undertake the political and economic reforms necessary to position itself as a key economy in the region.

Like any developing economy, one of the most important building blocks for Myanmar's economic development will be access to electricity. Without power, Myanmar's industry will not reach its full potential. In this article we outline some of the reasons why Myanmar's power sector has attracted the interest of the international project finance community and provide an overview of the key challenges that the power sector is facing.