''Burma Reveals Its External Debt Is $11 Billion''

is this why they opened up th the west?....

"Burma owes US $11 billion in foreign debt—some of it decades old—and is negotiating with Japan and Italy to repay the outstanding sums, the finance minister said, disclosing the country's external debt for the first time in recent years.

Burma’s economy was stunted for many years by mismanagement and by Western sanctions imposed as the long-ruling military failed to implement democratic reforms. The military-backed but elected government that took office last year has pushed political and economic changes."

from the irrawaddy...