Myanmar: Will Burma’s Timber Ban Curb or Entrench Corruption?

Apr 2, 2014 | Feliz Solomon, Democratic Voice of Burma
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A ban on all raw timber exports from Burma came into effect on Tuesday, in an attempt to rein in one of the country’s highly lucrative and notoriously corrupt extractives. The new regulation, which criminalises cross-border trade of unrefined wood products, is meant to stop the flow of raw resources and encourage development of value-added processing industries, though many are sceptical of the government’s ability to accomplish that outcome.