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Burma leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the Asean Summit, Singapore, November 15, 2018. REUTERS / Athit Perawongmetha

The Burmese Parliament approved Monday, November 19 the formation of a new ministry, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. Behind this name lies the country's desire to revive its economy, at half-mast. This one suffered in particular following the crisis of the Rohingyas, which made flee the foreign investments of the country of Aung San Suu Kyi.

with our correspondent in Yangon, Eliza Hunt

Foreign investment in Burma has fallen by almost half since 2017. Between April and September 2017, foreign direct investment (FDI) was worth $ 3 billion. This year, the figure is around $ 1.7 billion.

Investors, especially Western, who withdraw from the country while Burma is criticized for its management of the Rohingya crisis and threatened by the European Union trade sanctions . All these factors dissuade investors. In its 2019 ranking, the World Bank put Burma in the 20 countries with the worst business environment, behind its Vietnamese, Cambodian or Laotian neighbors.

Without the West, Burma turns east

To cope with this flight of Western investors, the Burmese government looks eastward and relies on Asian countries less concerned about the political situation. The leader Aung San Suu Kyi therefore visited, in just two months, Singapore , Japan or even Vietnam, during which it was mainly about economy.

Betting on Asia is the Burmese government's strategy for tourism. Because the number of Western tourists has also dropped sharply since 2017, again because of the crisis of the country's Muslim minority. Minus 26%, for example, for people from Western Europe. The number of Asian travelers increases especially since, since August, South Koreans and Japanese can enter Burma without visas.

Aung San Suu Kyi's party is trying to encourage investment, but much remains to be done

For now, the record of the ruling party, the National League for Democracy, is overall disappointing in terms of reforms to facilitate investment. However, there have been some steps to ease the heavy legislation and bureaucracy of the country. For example, foreign banks in Burma can now lend money to Burmese companies to help them grow. Another reform: today, 35% of the shares of a Burmese company can be held by foreigners, which was not possible before.

However, much remains to be done to make the country attractive, such as solving the problem of electricity supply, because power cuts are regular. Or, legislate on intellectual property, to encourage innovation.