Section 3 | RULES OF THE GAME 3.4 Private Sector Interests Ten months into its first year, the NLD administration has yet to share a detailed policy framework for economic development, releasing only a three-page brief outlining its economic principles rather than long-awaited policy priorities. The most important IREX INSIGHT Private businesses are key drivers of change with a reliable profit takeaway “was the emphasis put on national reconciliation. “Balancing of sustainable motive to bring more citizens of resource mobilization and allocation across states and regions” received top billing on Myanmar online and expand their the twelve-point plan.” 232 This emphasis indicates that the NLD leadership is incentivized digital fluency in order to boost to pursue the degree of equitable telecommunications investment required to impact the demand for locally relevant, gender digital divide in conflict-affected areas. However, whether the administration plans affordable products and services. to solicit bids for public-private partnerships (as with the corporatization reform of MPT) or pursue other means of investment remains unknown. There are distinct categories of private-sector interests that can play an instrumental role in bridging the gender digital divide. They include large (primarily multinational) telecommunications and ICT companies (such as Ooredoo, Telenor, Ericsson, Microsoft, Google, etc.) eager to invest in an expanding market; telecenters and cyber cafés that provide fee-based public internet access, particularly for the urban poor; ICT training institutes and bootcamps that are best positioned to address the enormous public need for digital skills until educational reforms can take root; local ICT firms that support innovation and entrepreneurship; and firms in growth sectors like tourism and agricultural processing that seek employees with the skills to create tech-enabled competitive advantages. MULTINATIONAL INTERESTS Deeply entrenched commercial interests with ties to the former military regime—estimated by one insider to represent nearly one-third of Myanmar’s economy 233—now vie with foreign investors. Overall foreign investment grew from $1.9 billion in 2011–12 to $2.7 billion in 2012–13, primarily from China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the ICT industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in terms of investment and employment.234 Telenor recently reported that it has already invested $1.5 billion since receiving a license in 2014 to offer telecommunications services.235 The current regime has encouraged the growth of the ICT industry and provided both regulatory and fiscal support for public-private infrastructure improvements (see section 2.3 above). Furthermore, many telecom retail outlets are key points of access and control to mobile digital skills with significant gender dynamics. Rather than provide skills training or demonstrations, they preload mobile devices and retain admin passwords, necessitating a return visit if a consumer desires to adjust settings or download additional apps. Economist, “Twelve-Point Economic ‘Plan’ Disappoints,” August 4, 2016. In January 2016, oligarch U Chit Khine, a former NLD rep at the township level and now an owner of Hilton hotels in Nay Pyi Taw and other properties, estimated that cronies and military-owned enterprises controlled “about 30 percent” of the economy. See Kyaw Phone Kyaw, “Myanmar’s Tycoons Unfazed by NLD Victory,” Frontier Myanmar, January 7, 2016. 234 Most of this foreign investment was in the energy sector, garment industry, information technology, and food and beverages. World Bank Group, “Myanmar Economic Monitor, October 2013,” 2013. 235 Telenor Myanmar, “Telenor Network Carried a Record 7.2 Billion Text Messages in 2016.” 232 233 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 69