My Take | Myanmar’s neighbours sit on the sidelines as it slides into chaos
- As the poorest member of Asean grapples with a 50% poverty rate, helping a regional nation in trouble is not foreign interference
Asean’s singular failure or refusal to get involved over many years has been a huge black mark on its record, and the bloc is consistently being pointed to by critics as being no more than a talking shop. The principle of non-interference does not mean good neighbours can’t work together to help another neighbour in trouble. And Myanmar is in a lot of trouble. According to the UNDP:
• Poverty headcount as a percentage of the population has doubled from 24.8 per cent in 2017 to 49.7 per cent in 2023. An additional 25 per cent are hanging by a thread.
• Only the top 20 per cent of the population reported a higher income per capita. But this income remains well below what would be required for a middle-class standard of living. Essentially, the middle class has disappeared in the country.
• Half of all households lack a secondary income source. Women-headed households are 1.2 times more likely to live in poverty compared to households headed by men.
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped below US$2 billion in 2021, compared to US$5 billion-plus in 2017. Despite a slight recovery in 2022-23, average annual FDI remains significantly lower than in previous years.