Once the outcast of south-east Asia, Myanmar is rapidly becoming the region’s darling. As the country – still known as Burma in some areas of the Western world – comes out of isolation, the international community is allowing itself a degree of optimism about its potential. And it is not just excitement about Myanmar’s prospects as a frontier economy that is stoking this excitement, but also its role as the missing piece of south-east Asia's jigsaw puzzle.
With an open Myanmar, the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) becomes stronger, and regional integration more likely. This integration, which is expected to culminate in the form of the Asean Economic Community, is pushing the region to the fore as an economic bloc that can counterbalance the other heavyweights in Asia.
