At its best, the EITI could temper irresponsible partners and federal misuse of funds. It could also add legitimacy to a windfall of investments in places and economies that many think are unprepared for rapid change.

Burma is singled out as the most improved country in terms of business viability, with strides taken by Thein Sein to address corruption, rule of rule, property rights and corporate governance. Nonetheless, it remains ranked alongside failed states such as Somalia and Congo.

The controversial China-backed Shwe Gas project sets a bad example for future investments in Burma’s extractive industries and should be suspended pending genuine regulatory reforms, a new report said on Monday.

An influx of foreign investment in Burma’s extractive industries is likely to fuel human rights abuses and environmental degradation across the country, a new report warned on Wednesday

Burma has the worst record on natural resource governance in the entire world, according to a new international study, which activists on Thursday described as a “warning” to global investors eyeing oil and gas deals in the country

A number of lucrative energy contracts are likely to be handed to Western firms in April, when the Burmese government is set to open a long-awaited bidding round for some two dozen off-shore oil and gas tenders