From Central Planning to Market : Poland's Transformation in a Comparative Perspective and the Lessons for Myanmar

This publication is intended to contribute to the discussion on Myanmar's post-socialist economic transformation and development and to provide knowledge and expertise on successful examples of systemic transformation, such as Poland. It tries to establish how these examples can be applied in the conditions of Myanmar. Some of the chapters are the result of the capacity building workshop for Myanmar policymakers entitled “From Central Planning to Market”, which took place in October 2013 in NayPyiTaw and was co-organised by the Embassy of Poland and the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development of Myanmar. The workshop was an element of “The Polish Reform Mission to Myanmar”, a technical assistance programme to support systemic transformation and sustainable development in Myanmar. Chapter One examines Myanmar's national development strategy and its various elements. Chapter Two analyses Poland's long-term development trajectory and the sources of the recent success. Chapter Three examines Poland's development and transformation in a comparative perspective with other Central and Eastern European countries. Chapter Four expands this comparative analysis to post-socialist countries in Asia and discusses various models of post-socialist transformation and development. Chapter Five examines Poland's political transformation since 1989. Chapter Six analyses the successful modernization of Poland's banking sector. Chapter Seven examines the same sector in Myanmar and Vietnam and points to the necessary reforms