Far from a ‘debt trap’, China’s belt and road allows countries like Myanmar to leapfrog poverty
Andre Wheeler says Western critics overlook the holistic and long-term benefits that China’s multilateral infrastructure investment programme brings to countries like Myanmar. What’s more, they aren’t offering any alternatives
Such claims also undermine any meaningful debate around the risks associated with allowing China to build and participate in essential infrastructure development within Myanmar and other belt and road participants. And it could be argued that the initiative should be viewed as a win-win.
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Much of the scepticism is driven by views of sustainable development in general. Fundamentally, the West adopts a more mercantilist approach, and measures success in terms of a commercial return within three to five years. China has an extended time frame, measured by a four-tier return on investment.
Commentators point to this development to argue that the belt and road is merely a means to redeploy this excess capacity through the construction of infrastructure.
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Myanmar can join the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, but could benefit more from China, which has been a leader in green and alternative energy technologies.
By adopting a wider definition of “green financing”, the belt and road recognises the importance of electricity in achieving sustainable development by acknowledging power generation as a central component.
Unlike Western institutions, China includes clean coal technology and funding for high-efficiency transport fuel production. This approach enables a country like Myanmar, with a large rural population, to create a sustainable development platform.
Applying first-world and Western-centric standards to financing would have probably meant that the Myitsone dam would not have received funding or potentially low-cost, high-efficiency coal-powered generation. Moreover, increased electrification will reduce the high rates of lung disease associated with wood-based energy sources used in Myanmar.
It makes sense for Myanmar and other developing countries to see the belt and road project as a sustainable development opportunity. Each country needs to play to its strengths and harness help to address shortcomings. In Myanmar’s case, these need to be articulated and reinforced in the upcoming memorandum of understanding discussions on the joint economic corridor.
Andre Wheeler is CEO of Asia-Pacific Connex, with more than 25 years’ experience in international business. He is working towards his doctorate on the impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative on infrastructure and logistics in the Asean region