EUEI Partnership Dialogue Facility (PDF)

Summary

Myanmar is one of the least developed countries in Asia. With 44 million people without access to electricity Myanmar has an electricity access rate of only 13%. Traditional biomass, mostly wood fuel and charcoal, is the main source of domestic energy in Myanmar and accounts for 64% of the primary energy source. About one million acres of actual forest are depleting each year. Oil and petroleum products account for 12% of the total primary energy supply, closely followed by gas  and hydro power. The country has an abundant potential for hydro power.

Since early 2011 Myanmar has had a remarkable development moving away from the authoritarian rule. The government has committed itself to reforms and some significant steps have been taken already. These changes are opening up new prospects for development cooperation between European member states and Myanmar.

The EUEI PDF scoping mission aimed to build a sound ground for future (donor) activities in Myanmar from an energy sector policy perspective, identify possible areas of intervention, and contribute to a working donor coordination. Additionally the scoping mission team provided qualitative baseline data and analysis of the energy sector (biomass and non-biomass) in Myanmar to:

• provide recommendations for potential future support of EU member states to Myanmar’s energy sector and
• identify possible activity options for the EUEI PDF in Myanmar.

The ongoing transition of the country is remarkable. It is very likely that the latest development will lead to a strong democratization of the country for the benefit of its people. The government has recently started initiatives tackling poverty reduction. One of eight identified fields is the issue of rural energy development. The mission team highly recommends to support the government of Myanmar through policy support as well as dedicated action on the ground in working on energy access especially, but not only in rural areas.