page_title: Corruption in Myanmar
section_title: Saffron Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: Corruption in Myanmar / Background / Saffron Revolution
caption_attribution_description: นายกรัฐมนตรีเยี่ยมคารวะพลเอกอาวุโส ตาน ฉ่วย ประธานสภาสันติภาพและการพัฒนาแห่งรัฐ (State Peace and Development Council of the Union of Myanmar - SPDC) ณ เรือนรับรอง Zeyarthiri Beikman นครเนปิดอว์ สหภาพพม่า วันจันทร์ ที่ 11 ตุลาคม พ.ศ.2553 (Photographer attached to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand&#160;: Peerapat Wimolrungkarat / พีรพัฒน์ วิมลรังครัตน์)
context_page_description: Corruption in Myanmar is an extremely serious problem. Owing to failures in regulation and enforcement, corruption flourishes in every sector of government and business. Many foreign businesspeople consider corruption “a serious barrier to investment and trade in Myanmar.” A U.N. survey in May 2014 concluded that corruption is the greatest hindrance for business in Myanmar.
  Transparency International's 2017 Corruption Perception Index ranks the country 130th place out of 180 countries.
  In the Myanmar Business Survey 2014, corruption was the most frequently identified obstacle to business, especially with respect to obtaining firm registration, business licenses and permits from government authorities.
  It is common in Myanmar to charge illicit payments for government services, to bribe tax collectors to secure a lower tax payment, and to bribe customs officials to avoid paying customs duties.
context_section_description: In 2007 the then Burmese government revoked several subsidies for various fuel industries, causing prices to soar throughout the nation. This sparked widespread protests due to the public's dissatisfaction with the military government. It was noted that the average citizen was displeased with the immense levels of kleptocracy in the nation, allowing members of the military dictatorship to live in a "state within a state" with accumulated wealth far beyond that of the people. The government reacted harshly to the protests through violence and arbitrary detentions. While the official death count tallied thirteen killed, it is widely surmised that the true number far exceeded this figure. The government had even taken steps to censor internet access within the country, though to no avail.
  Although the demonstrations were dispersed and suppressed by the military junta, the public would later vote a new government in and wrested power from Than Shwe by 2011. Nonetheless, elements of the military government retained power.
  Myanmar spent five decades under military rule. This period ended in 2011, when a semi-civilian government took power and sought to regenerate the economy and draw foreign investment. Among its objectives was the reduction of endemic corruption. As of May 2014, however, those reforms were viewed as having had a minimal effect on corruption.
  Every leading official in the former military regime is said to have “committed thousands of offenses related to corruption.” Most high-level officials in the civil service were related to military officials.
  Since the end of military rule, Myanmar has been implementing economic reforms and developing a free market, but according to one source “its nascent market economy remains bound by myriads of regulations,” which make possible rampant corruption that “hinders the functioning of the price mechanism, upon which the proper functioning of the market economy is based.” Kim Ninh of the Asia Foundation said in May 2015 that despite efforts to reduce corruption after military rule, the country's business environment remained essentially the same, with few new companies emerging since 2011.
  An October 2015 article in Wired stated that notwithstanding attempts by the US and other Western countries to promote transparency, the majority of Myanmar's economy remains in control of a corrupt elite. During the privatization process, according to a report by the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre that was updated in October 2014, “numerous state assets were sold to the military, family members, and associates of senior government officials at fire sale prices.”
  According to several reports, moreover, the military influenced the results of the 2010 and 2012 elections by means of fraud, restrictions on political participation, and prohibition of international monitoring.
caption: Former Burmese Head of State Than Shwe
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