ABSTRACT
In 1989 socialist idealism waned while capitalist pragmatism became a global trend. The Government of Myanmar (Burma) joined the rush. Labelled perestroika in the Soviet Union, democracy in Eastern Europe, and “a return to the Golden Peninsula” by Thailand’s and Vietnam’s foreign ministers — the rose by any name smelled the same: freedom for the investor to seek a profit in business. This is a reasonable hope by those experienced in free enterprise, and a cogent statement of Myanmar’s policy is found in their November 1989 report to the twenty-fifth annual FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) conference.
