Myanmar’s Path to Electrification

Many in the international community see Myanmar as a new economic frontier as the country has opened to the outside world and started to implement political and economic reforms after decades of isolation and military rule. With a wealth of natural resources and a strategic location between China and India, Myanmar could reestablish itself as an important regional trading hub. However, the legacy of economic sanctions, ethnic conflict, weak governance, and underinvestment in core infrastructure translates into significant energy access, capacity, and reliability problems that hinder Myanmar’s short- and long-term prospects for economic growth.