Via the Emerging Frontier blog, another look at Myanmar:

As Myanmar prepares for an economic resurgence following the end of decades of military rule, wide-eyed firms from all over Asia are competing for a piece of the potentially lucrative pie.

With largely untapped natural resources, including minerals, metals and fossil fuels, and a tourism sector left in ruins by sanctions, Myanmar sparkles with opportunity.

But businessmen with experience inside the formerly military-ruled state say making money in a country where education levels are low, the rule of law is weakly enforced and electricity supplies are haphazard, can be a challenge.

Since one-time general Thein Sein came to power in early 2011 at the head of a nominally civilian government, Myanmar’s march in from the diplomatic cold has been rapid.

International sanctions aimed at punishing the repressive regime are being relaxed as political dissidents are given their freedom.

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent much of the last two decades under house arrest, this month took her seat in parliament in an historic moment that cemented the astonishing reforms.

As the sanctions loosen, a rush of firms are looking to tap a potential 62 million consumers and a young workforce in an economy that the IMF says is set to grow 5.5 percent this year.

“The reality is that no one can afford to ignore Myanmar’s potential,” said Jeremy Kloiser-Jones, head of Hong Kong-based investment and advisory firm Bagan Capital.

“Japanese corporations are showing particularly strong interest,” he said.

Tokyo announced last month it would forgive about US$3.7 billion of Myanmar’s debt and resume suspended aid.

“Now the government has waived debts and yen-denominated loans will resume, huge business chances are ahead for us,” said a spokeswoman for trading house Marubeni.

Marubeni, which has just opened an office in the capital Naypyidaw to add to the one it operates in the nation’s main city of Yangon, is looking at infrastructure projects involving electricity and transport, she said.

The firm’s rival, Itochu, is on the lookout for “information on mining rare metals such as molybdenum and tungsten,” a spokesman said, describing the country as the region’s “last frontier.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak visited Myanmar in March, looking to boost a trade relationship that jumped by a third in 2011 to be worth an annual US$792.7 million.

Khoo Kay Peng, a director of Malaysian marketing company GFW Urban Youth, said he and his partners are aiming to raise US$2.0 million to open a business hotel in Yangon which he estimates has only around 3,000 usable rooms.

He warned many issues still need to be ironed out, such as property leases, which are currently available only for one year, and curbs on private ownership by foreigners, but that he remained optimistic.

“We are not going to rush into it,” he told AFP. “But it’s good to go in and build some capacity. It’s a country that can do very well.”