Myanmar is undergoing significant transformations to its politics and economy and appears to be making the reforms necessary to open-up the country to the world. President Thein Sein's rise to the presidency may have been marked with some controversy due to complaints about the legitimacy of the election; however, his actions as President deserve the international acclaim he has been awarded. Myanmar remains an enigma. Its natural resource wealth and large population, combined with recent overtures towards inclusiveness with the international community offer incomparable promise, but the amount of progress it must sustain to truly develop remains large.

Myanmar's underdevelopment can be traced to its isolation from much of the world, rather than its lack of potential. Myanmar possesses vast resource wealth in the form of natural gas and oil reserves, precious gemstones and metallic minerals, and has substantial fertile land for agriculture. Its preservation of temples, pagodas, and colonial buildings combined with its natural beauty heightens its attractiveness as a tourist destination and adds value to its real estate market. Myanmar's geographic location is ideal for commerce with China, India and other parts of Southeast Asia with coastal access providing an opportunity to become a central shipping country and a major actor in international and regional trade. Its population size also provides it with the labor force necessary to develop a proficient manufacturing sector and constitutes a sizeable consumer market.

David Fuller's view Myanmar is an example of what I discuss in the lead item above - its government is changing. The long period of self-isolation appears to be ending - hardly surprising as Myanmar is in the world's fastest growing region.

Myanmar is already a member of ASEAN and will host the organisation's Summit in 2014. With sensible governance Myanmar could be the next Asian Tiger. I think it is too soon to identify any conventional investment opportunities but when the likes of Hugh Young and Mark Mobius become involved, we should take note.