Rising ethnic clashes could tarnish Myanmar's 'Asia's next big frontier market' image

Rangoon, June 15 (ANI): Increasing violence between the decades-old ethnic divisions in remote areas of Myanmar could tarnish the country's new image as Asia's next big frontier market, according to a report.

Nearly 29 people were killed in clashes between local Buddhists and stateless Rohingya Muslims since June 8 in Rakhine State.

President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the area on Sunday and warned the country that further bloodshed could set back its continuing transformation.

According to some analysts, that military leaders will put the brakes on further overhauls, even as democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi tours Europe and Western investors study whether it is time to invest in Myanmar, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Some analysts warned that the more open political climate that has evolved in Myanmar over the past year has allowed people to use new freedoms to reopen old wounds.

"The outbreak of communal tensions is an unwelcome byproduct of the government's political reform drive, and if not tackled carefully, could derail much of the progress made over the past year," the paper quoted said Jan Zalewski, an analyst at risk consultancy IHS Global Insight, as sating.

According to the paper, bloody clashes in Myanmar come as Western businesses assess when or how quickly to invest in the country after sanctions against it were suspended.

The country is a largely untapped market of over 50 million people and rich in natural resources, many of them in ethnic-minority areas.

Local business executives said potential foreign partners are concerned that there could be backsliding on recent political reform because of the situation in Rakhine State.

Security analysts also raised fear that road closures and other disruptions could affect infrastructure projects such as a Chinese-invested oil and gas pipeline project near the town of Kyaukpyu, adding to the uncertainty about the country's long-term economic direction. (ANI)