Myanmar's energy plight

The road connecting Rangoon and Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, is almost empty. Once in a while, a bus drives down the road, and there's the odd policeman watching over the nearly non-existent traffic on the road.

English-language signs remind drivers to be cautious. "If you drink, don't drive!" says one of the signs, but there are only few people to take notice. It's not the state the road is in that keeps people away from it. By the country's standards, the road is quite good. It has rather got to do with the city of Naypitaw in the middle of the Asian country.

The city was built by the former military rulers in a no-man's land. They city's founders picked the strategically location to make it hard to reach for potential attackers. It's an artificial structure manned by state officials who prefer to spend the weekends with their families in Rangoon or other parts of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

Myanmar's future

But now the World Economic Forum has come to Naypyitaw to debate developments in South East Asia and Myanmar in particular. The gathering is being attended by over 900 participants from 55 nations, including the heads of state from Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines and, of course, Myanmar itself, as well as business leaders and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

Myanmar's President, Thein Sein, has focused on reforms for the last two years. He said he wants to strip the nation of its repressive image and show that it is embarking on a new course. Long held under house arrest, opposition leader Aung San Su Kyi has no problem meeting with officials and moving about freely in the congress center, the venue of the WEF regional meeting.

Joint debates

There's a huge interest in the discussions attended by both government and opposition leaders, and not all fit in the conference room. Some have to follow events in front of TV screens outside the meeting. There's a relaxed atmosphere, as the debates unfold, with the odd bits of laughter in between.

But Su Kyi said back in 1996 the country also had a democracy and was reasonably well off economically before the military coup. "That's why you can never tell how things will develop here, but I'm optimistic," she said.

"Yes, I do want to run for president," she added when asked about her own political ambitions for the 2015 election. But for that to happen, the constitution would have to be amended as the opposition leader was married to an Englishman and could not be elected under the current election laws.

No electricity, no development

Some 74 percent of Myanmar's population has no access to electricity - in rural areas, that rate can jump to as high as 84 percent - and that poses a major obstacle to economic development.

Energy Minister Than Htay told reporters that the overhaul of the domestic energy sector would now be tackled. "We've set up a national energy committee affiliated directly to the president," he said.

New energy structures

The World Economic Forum presented an analysis of Myanmar's energy sector and recommended a complete overhaul with a focus on smaller power stations, local networks and a halt to subsidies that the WEF said would not reach the poor. It said families should be supported directly and not through lower electricity bills.

"In order to satisfy the rising demand in electricity, Myanmar will have to find investors," said the vice-president of the Asian Development Bank, Stephen Groff.

He added that mistakes of the past must not be repeated when inking new contracts.

"In the past when sanctions against Myanmar where still in place the focus was on securing revenues at all," Energy Minister Than Htay commented. "That's why we used to sell our electricity and raw materials cheaply, but we wouldn't pursue the same policy now."