Myanmar-Japan Economic Relations (1988-2015)

Democratization has progressed in Myanmar since the transfer of government to civil administration in March 2011, and the country is steadily forging stronger ties with the international community. In order to support democratization and structural reforms of Myanmar through economic development, there is an urgent necessity for social and industrial infrastructure development in Myanmar, which promotes her growth and links with neighboring countries. Japan would contribute to investments in infrastructure and eventually to Myanmar’s economic development, which is indispensable for sustainable growth throughout Asia. Japan should further encourage these efforts and promote concrete economic cooperation with Myanmar looking ahead to the ASEAN economic integration schedule for 2015. There is a particularly urgent need for core infrastructure development within Myanmar to support industry and for region wide infrastructure projects to build links with neighboring countries. It is important for Japan to promote economic activities leveraging Myanmar’s potential through such projects and actively contribute to the purpose of this paper is to examine the development and changes in Myanmar -Japan relations from the view point of historical, political, diplomatic and economic areas particularly with special reference to Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) to Myanmar