Long-isolated Myanmar joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprising its major trade partners, in 1997. It embarked on a market economy in 1998 after 26 years of central planning.
Though impoverished, Myanmar is rich in natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, timber, tin, zinc, copper and precious stones. The economy relies heavily on the export of natural gas, agricultural, marine and forest products and textiles.
There are few accurate economic statistics available and the country has a large black-market economy.
Independent economists say decades of mismanagement by the military, which has ruled for 45 years, have left Myanmar with negligible growth, rampant inflation and a currency, the Kyat, considered worthless outside the country. An estimated 26 percent of the population live in poverty on less than USD 1 a day.
