COMMENT While archeological findings show that pre-historical Burma, which is today known as Myanmar, was home to a civilisation that was the first to turn copper into bronze, grow rice and domesticate chickens, present-day Myanmar is far from its early days.

After years of colonisation, civil wars, five decades of military rule and international isolation, the country has become one of the least developed and poorest nations in the world, accused of many human rights violations and corruption, including the widespread use of forced labour, human and drugs trafficking and sexual violence.

More than 30 percent of the population live in poverty and around 37 percent of the citizens are unemployed. And the challenges Myanmar faces today are not limited to these...