The concept of transparency has been a goal of government policy in Myanmar since President Thein Sein was inaugurated in March 2011. From an economic development perspective, after the "black box" of military expenditures, the next most significant black box of opaque dealings is the country's state-owned enterprise sector.
Like many post-colonial countries, Myanmar's parliamentary government from independence in 1948 to 1958 had a socialist-flavored, but market-based, development strategy. In addition to keeping key enterprises like the postal and telecommunications systems in the public sector, the government created a number of state-owned mining and manufacturing companies.
