Riches, Resources, and Revolutions

Episode #231: Guillaume de Langre, a former adviser to the Myanmar Ministry of Electricity and Energy, addressing the military regime’s urgent need to exploit the country’s natural resources to keep afloat in the nation’s ruined economy.

He first notes that while valuable ores and minerals, like gold, silver, lithium, and jade, have been integral to the military economy since at least 1990, profits from these resources have not resulted diversified, equitable development or improved living standards for the local populations. Instead, they have been a curse, subjecting those communities to exploitation and environmental hazards without significant investment in their wellbeing.

But problems mushroomed following the 2021 military coup. Foreign investment and expertise evaporated amidst the ensuing instability, leaving the economy in a chokehold. With dwindling revenue, and much of the natural resource extraction having been halted, the result has been a massive loss of revenue for the military. Coupled with the their incompetent economic strategies over the years, it spells out a grim future as to how they keep the faucets on.

De Langre further speculates on the post-coup economic landscape, the challenges of energy infrastructure investment, and the potential for a new social contract that could address the wealth distribution between various ethnic and regional groups. He envisions a positive future where Myanmar ultimately emerge from this turmoil, attracting foreign investment with a commitment to transparency and sustainable development.

“Myanmar is not doomed! There is a path, but it will be tricky. It'll be very imperfect, and probably unequal. But there is a path,” he says in closing. “This is a moment of flux. It's a moment to propose things, and if you have an expertise… I'm sure that there are hundreds of people out there who have very specific knowledge about things that are essential to understand about development in Myanmar, and how to get out of this situation… We don't have to wait to be given permission to imagine the future.”