The political make-up of the state’s executive and legislature results in a lot of time and energy spent on negotiations instead of implementing sweeping economic reforms in Shan, according to a local chamber of commerce. The state needs political stability and it needs to generate value-added agricultural products in order to grow its economy. Shan […]
High hopes for business zone on China-Myanmar border
January 27, 2016 by
An ambitious new economic zone at Myanmar’s largest trading point with China will bring new business opportunities for the two countries, officials and residents said at the project’s soft opening in Shan State’s Muse last week. Around 80 percent of Myanmar’s formal overland trade with China passes through a border point a few miles from […]
US sanctions force jade into a corner, say traders
December 17, 2015 by
Jade traders say US sanctions have forced them to rely on Chinese investors and buyers, who dodge taxes and operate with little to no transparency. If Washington were to remove sanctions, they say, it would speed up reform in the troubled sector. Since the US banned imports of gems and jade in 2003, China has […]
