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Myanmar: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption

Myanmar has transformed since moving towards democracy. Anti-corruption is a priority and the government is working to implement an anti-corruption framework. This is at an early stage, but there are some promising initiatives. Nonetheless, the rule of law is weak, and systemic issues enable high levels of corruption and organised crime. Of particular concern is the influence of military-linked cronies and the military is still able to act with impunity. The fragility of the state and disputed state authority in Myanmar’s peripheries are also problems. Despite this, there seem to be genuine attempts to tackle corruption in some sectors.

7 April 2019
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Myanmar: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption

Main points

  • Corruption is a widespread issue in Myanmar and is particularly worrying in the extractive industries, land management, policing and the judiciary.
  • In many sectors, there are relevant initiatives to curb corruption and the legal and institutional anti-corruption framework of Myanmar is gradually improving in many respects.
  • However, corruption is an endemic and systemic issue in Myanmar and there are multiple gaps in current efforts. These gaps will have to be addressed for Myanmar to continue to tackle corruption.

Cite this publication


Bak, M.; (2019) Myanmar: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2019:21)

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Mathias Bak

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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