RECOMMENDATIONS: *Additional attention is needed on implementation, especially as the pace of reforms remains high. The importance of careful implementation and even the prioritization of implementation over further reforms should be emphasized. The need for a fast pace of reform across the different areas needs to be tempered with the dangers of attempting to push the reform process too far too fast. The capacity of the government to implement reforms is clearly (still) limited. In building not only the capacity but also the reputation as a capable overseer of the economy, consistent and steady reform is vital, more so than a high pace... * The formation of a permanent dialogue mechanism for investment climate reform marks a significant milestone. The private sector has taken steps to create a dialogue mechanism through the Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), which has established the Myanmar Business Forum (MBF). The Ministry of Commerce has been assigned the role of government MBF focal point. Both the private and public sector participants seem committed to making MBF a success and a forum through which frank discussions of the issues, as well as diligent follow-up of initiated reforms, can be carried out. In order to sustain the reform effort in the coming years great care will have to be taken to continually strengthen the leadership and buy-in for the MBF... *While comprehensive reforms for improving access to finance and electricity have been initiated, improving access to land and to skilled labor are areas where additional attention is warranted. On land, broad reforms are underway, including a new national land use policy. The process for transferring land use rights, for example, as captured by the Doing Business indicator ?registering property? could be made more transparent, simpler, faster, and cheaper. More complicated reforms can then follow such initial reforms. For skilled workers, additional analytical work is needed first, and a discussion about what role the government will take in supporting firms in finding skilled workers. Examples of helpful analytical work include the Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) workforce development and the Skills Toward Employability and Productivity (STEP) household and firm surveys. In order to assess what the appropriate role of the government should be in fostering vocational training and similar programs to improve workplace readiness, more analysis is needed... *The reform agendas in place to improve regulation, taxation and eliminate corruption should be continued and expanded. While the ICA makes a number of specific recommendations, the full implementation in these categories will be neither easy nor quick. Persistent effort is needed to make sure that the various government agencies, as well as the civil servants themselves, become engaged actors of change in this new role of the government in the economy. This is a long-term endeavor and capacity building in change management will be critical. As a recommendation that is very easy to implement: any old mandates or rules favoring state economic enterprises (SEEs) over private firms as suppliers of goods or services to the government should be eliminated. If Myanmar?s private firms are to be encouraged, then opening government contracts to competition will improve not only the efficiency of scarce public funds, but will also give private firms and investors increased confidence in the government?s commitment to a strong and dynamic market economy in Myanmar... *Ultimately, the real challenge in completing the reform agenda will be political. The reform agenda is broad and ambitious. A great deal has already been accomplished, but much more remains to be done. The real challenge in fully implementing reforms will be political. This is the common tension in countries seeking to transition to modern economies and to a fair, transparent investment climate. Only with an empowered group of capable and non-corrupt regulators is such a transition possible. The government needs to reconcile this imperative for professionalism within its ranks, on the one hand, with the legacy and the demands of formidable patronage networks, on the other. How this tension is reconciled will ultimately determine whether Myanmar?s staggering potential is realized..."