China And Japan's 'New Great Game' Intensifies In Myanmar
2018-01-31 10:09:51 source：Forbes
January 29, 2018
Throughout Asia the frontiers of investment are being pushed ever onward, gobbling up former backwaters in the hunt for cheap labor, natural resources, infrastructure deals, and the massive profits that can be made in the margins of a country transitioning from “emerging market” to “plain old market.” As the developed, investor countries of the world march through the Globalization 2.0 era, they continue leaving new roads, rail lines, bridges, power plants, airports, industrial zones, and completely transformed societies in their wake.
As China and Japan continue their race to match each other on securing infrastructure projects and other investment opportunities abroad, Myanmar has become another staging ground for their "new great game," where position is gained via development deals rather than with armies on battlefields.
After being a sanctioned, no-go zone for Western-affiliated investors for over two decades, Myanmar began opening up after a civilian government came to power in 2011. This transition instantly made the country the next frontier for countries and companies looking to capitalize on infrastructure, energy, transportation, telecommunications, and industrial development, and torrents of foreign investments and loans flowed into the country like a dam that had burst.
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