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【Burma Places Hopes for Development in Foreign Investment】
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Burma is in a good position to make big gains in Asia’s fast-growing markets. But development must include all of society and be sustainable for Burma to reach its goals.
缅甸在获取亚洲这个快速增长市场带来的巨大好处方面占据了有利位置。但为了实现其目标，发展必须包括缅甸各
阶层并且可持续。
That is what the Asian Development Bank said in a recent report.
这是亚洲开发银行在最近一份报告中说的。
Cyn-Young Park is an economist with the bank. She says Burma’s economic position is strengthened by its natural resources, such as oil, gas and minerals. It also has two large, growing neighbors: India and China. And the nation is young: one in four of its citizens are under the age of thirty.
Cyn-Young Park是该行的一名经济学家。她说，石油，天然气和矿产一类的自然资源加强了缅甸的经济地位，缅甸还有中国和印度这两个不断发展的庞大邻国。同时该国比较年轻化，四分之一的公民年龄未满30岁。
But Burma has a long way to go. After fifty years of military rule, it is one of Asia’s poorest countries. Basic infrastructure, like roads, bridges and railways, are not developed. And only thirty percent of rural people have electricity.
但缅甸还有很长的路要走。经过50年的军人统治，它是亚洲最贫穷的国家之一。道路、桥梁、铁路等基本的基础设施没有发展起来。而且只有30%的农村居民用上了电。
Burma is trying to increase foreign investment. Its civilian government is struggling to agree on a new foreign investment law. Recent versions of the law restrict foreign ownership in some industries and ban it completely in others.
缅甸正试图增加外国投资。它的民选政府正努力就一项新的外国投资法上达成一致。该法律最新版本限制了外资进入一些行业，并完全禁止外资进入另一些行业。
Sean Turnell is an economist with Australia’s Macquarie University. He said the foreign investment law is now facing local disapproval, or push back.
Sean Turnell是澳大利亚麦考瑞大学的经济学家。他说，这项外商投资法目前正面临着当地的非难或倒退。
SEAN TURNELL: “There’s been a bit of a push back against some of the concessions granted to foreign investors. In particular, there seems to be a walling off of some of the sectors from foreign investors.”
SEAN TURNELL：“在一些授予外国投资者的特许经营权上有一点倒退。特别是，某些行业看上去隔离了外国投资者。”
For years, Burma’s military closely controlled the economy. Relatives and friends of military members received rich contracts.
多年来，缅甸军政府密切的控制着经济。军事成员的亲戚和朋友拿到了许多合同。
Now, the civilian government wants to expand services and manufacturing. It is considering giving foreign companies low tax rates so they will invest.
现在，文官政府想要扩大服务业和制造业。它正考虑给予外国公司低税率以吸引其投资。
But experts say this could be a mistake. Sean Turnell says investors are concerned about infrastructure problems, not taxes. Economists also say tax breaks for local businesses may not be the answer either. They say the lack of access to credit for farmers and businesses in Burma is a bigger problem.
但专家称，这可能是一个错误。Sean Turnell说，外国投资者担心的是基础设施问题而不是税收。经济学家还表示，对当地企业的税收减免可能也不是解决办法。他们说，农民和企业缺少获得信贷的渠道是一个大问题。
Reform in Burma is still in the early stages. The country recently announced new rules ending direct government censorship of news media. Reporters now must send censors their work after it is published, instead of before. Some reporters say they will wait to see if this means more freedom.
缅甸的改革仍处于早期阶段。该国最近宣布结束政府直接审查新闻媒体的新规定。记者们现在还必须将文章提交给审查人员，只是时间从文章发表前改成了发表后。记者们称，他们将继续观望这是否意味着更多的自由。
Cyn-Young Park says investors too are waiting to see if reform will succeed.
Cyn-Young Park称，投资者也都在观望改革是否会成功。
CYN-YOUNG PARK: “It is really going to take a while before the investors do believe that this reform is sincere and the government is not going to retract.”
CYN-YOUNG PARK：“的确还需要一段时间投资者才能确认改革是真诚的，政府不会收回。”
The foreign investment legislation could be signed into law as early as this month.
外国投资法案最早可以在本月签署成为法律。
