The Project May Serve the Nation - But What About Us, Who Live Here?

Myanmar is a country in the midst of a historic transformation, including the rapid move toward a market economy and many planned infrastructure and development projects that seek to connect the country to its neighbors. To gain a better understanding ofhow foreign infrastructure investment in Myanmar may affect local communities, RAND researchers conducted a survey of 250 residents of communities near one such project-the Dawei Special Economic Zone (DSEZ). The DSEZ is intended to provide economic benefits to Myanmar in general and specifically to the Dawei region. A portion of area inhabitants, however, viewed the project as bringing more harm than good. They expressed concerns about, for example, the prospect of relocating residents, unfair compensation for land, and environmental impacts. But the problems of the project were largely seen as solvable: Fewer than one-tenth of respondents wanted to terminate the DSEZ project, and an overwhelming majority favored solutions that are amenable to negotiation. As Myanmar works to develop its infrastructure, it is in the ultimate interest of the central and regional governments to partner more effectively with local communities. To ensure the success of plans like the DSEZ, the people who are forced to altertheir lives and livelihoods to accommodate such efforts must be-and must feel themselves to be-true beneficiaries of these projects.