Chinese investors protest in Myanmar: The outcome is foretold

While previously there was information about many Chinese investors being opposed in Africa, with the reason being that they only focused on exploiting mineral resources without creating jobs, in recent days this situation has recurred in Myanmar.

Myanmar people protest against the $3.6 billion Myitsone hydropower plant project invested by China.

The $5 billion gas pipeline project that China is implementing in Myanmar, when put into operation, will bring crude oil and gas purchased from Africa to the southwest of the country without having to go through the dangerous Strait of Malacca. However, this ambitious project is facing fierce opposition from local people in Myanmar due to the consequences caused by Chinese enterprises. The land acquisition to make way for the oil pipeline corridor has pushed many farmers in the project area into unemployment. Not only is the land eroded, causing environmental pollution, but the sign "heavily fined if encroaching on the pipeline" hanging on the bamboo fence signaling a restricted area... that local people see every day has created a mentality of opposition to Chinese enterprises. Many people have had to leave their hometowns to go elsewhere to make a living.

Over the years, China has always been the leading foreign investor in Myanmar, focusing on areas such as energy, minerals, and natural resources - resources that Myanmar is rich in but has not yet known how to exploit. However, in 2013, China sharply reduced its investment in Myanmar with the committed capital reaching only 407 million USD, less than 1/10 of the 4.3 billion USD figure in the previous year. One of the reasons for the above decline is that the Myanmar government decided to suspend many investment projects in resource exploitation and energy of Chinese enterprises. Among them is the project to build the Myitsone dam worth 3.6 billion USD in a northern state of Myanmar - a key hydropower project - with a plan to supply electricity to China's Yunnan province due to concerns about environmental impacts. Not only economic and environmental issues but also cultural issues are the reasons why the people of Myanmar protest against Chinese investors building the Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River. This is a sacred place for the Kachin people in the area, considered the cradle of Myanmar civilization. When the dam is built, the reservoir will submerge 63 ancient villages on a total area of ​​nearly 77,000 hectares, turning one of Myanmar's ancient cultural centers, where the N'Mai and Mali rivers meet, into a sea of ​​water.

While Chinese companies' investments in neighboring countries are shrinking, companies from Europe, Japan, and the US are also showing signs that they are getting "fed up" with China. According to a recent report by the European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in China, European companies are facing an unattractive business environment due to falling profits and the government's preference for local companies. More than half of European companies surveyed said that the "golden era" in China is over. The two biggest challenges for companies are economic downturn and rising labor costs.

Although these are still just spontaneous protests from local people, they have partly shown the contradictory but quite realistic images of Chinese investors in Myanmar. If this situation repeats, China may really lose the market in this strongly developing country unless they prove to the people of this country that they are true friends. The big lesson for Chinese investors is the need for a strategic, long-term, transparent investment vision as well as always knowing how to put the interests of local people as well as the investing country as the top concern instead of the "eat by the inch" style and only benefiting themselves.

According to Hanoi Moi Online