Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) says investment in social infrastructure will be crucial. Aung San Suu Kyi herself has declared that the country needs schools, health centres and an adequate water supply. “Personally, I find the best thing you can see is a school full of children,” says Fisler, who at the same time recognises the importance of focusing on "capacity building" at the local level. “A new school is no use if it doesn’t have any qualified teachers.”

Good intentions will not be enough, however, and caution is being called for. Myanmar continues to face chronic problems - bureaucracy, corruption, human rights violations and impunity of perpetrators - and reform is slow to come.



“It’s like the Chinese dance of the dragon: the head moves, but the tail stays put,”Swiss NGOs agree that Myanmar can feel like the “wild west”. As in the past, the rules can change without notice from one day to the next, aid workers say, so they have to take a very ad hoc approach.

Institutional confusion is compounded by logistical problems. “We want to be more present in the ethnic regions, where the needs are most urgent. Access to Mon, Kayin and Kayah States is extremely difficult partly due to the absence of roads,” notes Fisler.



In the state of Kachin in the north of the country, the humanitarian situation for some local communities has become more difficult, Swissaid has found. With ongoing hostilities between the government army and ethnic armed groups, people have been displaced from their villages and some projects are up in the air for the time being.



Social tensions are likely to be accentuated by uncontrolled economic development, say humanitarian organisations. The onetime British colony, which is rich in minerals, precious stones, gas and water resources, has no governing standards for the protection of populations and the environment.



Local communities, not just foreign investors, should benefit from the political changes, Swissaid points out.

2012.06.14 Swiss Info - Myanmar Wild West