How the world works: Burma edition

The three things that Burma (Myanmar, to its military regime) has to export are: drugs, gems, and rain forest timber. Most Western countries have applied a range of trade sanctions and import-prohibitions against Burmese goods. China has not and is Burma’s main trade partner. I don’t know what the drug- or gem-export business looks like, and I’m not likely to get pictures of shipments as they occur. But recently in the port area of Rangoon (Yangon), I got an idea of how the timber trade looks. Here are supplies waiting for shipment: And here is the merchant ship Hua Shan, home port Guangzhou, waiting for its cargo. The wheels of commerce turn.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2007/05/how-the-world-works-burma-edition/7596/