If you managed to view at the latest White House meeting between Ukrainian Zelensky and Trump/Vance, you would probably notice how Zelensky has to put up with Trump and Vance bullying him with alternate truths and slight shoves and pushes by Trump. He was not given time to respond. The meeting was undiplomatic at best, but Zelensky needed the funding. He has no choice but to put up with the antics. Simply because he is poor. He needed the money to fight the war. His people needed that.

The same thing happened with China many decades ago. China was poor by today’s standards then. Now China and India stands at par with countries of the West, not taking any potshots lying down. Oh what a difference money can make.

I can imagine Myanmar leaders having to put up with richer ASEAN neighbours and some preachers from the West, trying to scold and bully them in meetings and in public, simply because the country is poor and in need of funds and investments.

Now you get my drift on why we would need poverty alleviation as a national strategy, right after putting development over peace as our priority (Chicken First or Egg First – December 2024 Myanmar Insider).

How about a top down approach?

Well we have tried that, in dispensing of the Covid loans. Some of these recipient companies bosses used the loans for themselves and convert these into $ to invest in overseas properties and assets. Now the government is left with 160 billion Kyats ($40 million) worth of bad debts.

There are still some business leaders who believe that top down approach of funding or giving money to them would create employment opportunities and hence, somehow help the poor get out of the poverty trap. When I asked them, whether she (the boss) is willing to employ someone who was bed-ridden because of tuberculosis, disabled or someone who can only come on irregular days to work, because he/she has to take care of the sick parents or siblings, she has no answer.

Businesses and companies are best helped by the government creating an environment that promotes enterprise and investments into the country. Giving them funds and incentives would not get Myanmar out of poverty as Covid evidence has shown.

Hence we need to strategise an alternative approach to mass poverty alleviation. Who better to learn from than China! GDP per capita of China has gone up from $300 four decades ago to now $12,000+. In terms of property alleviation en mass, no one has done it better than China, in the history of this world. And contrary to communist and socialist ideologies, they are not using the top down approach to help the poor.

What foundations do we need?

First and foremost we really need to identify the poor. Covid loans in Myanmar may have been dispensed off in a ‘who knows who’ format, but this certainly is only going to enrich those who are already not poor. So identifying the poor correctly is the first step in targeted poverty alleviation.

At the same time, being poor is not static. You may not be poor the next day. Your circumstances can change. Hence we need dynamic management that accompanies the identification process.

As with the Mao’s campaign, the success of the project depends on the grassroots support. With village residents’ assistance and participation, the works of the poverty alleviation is more likely to be successful.

Last, the support team of civil servants and partisans. They are the staff that is going to make the idea work. The government can only give out policies, guidance and funding. It is the people who will implement and carry out the whole plan to make it a success.

How do we know who is poor?

When it comes to getting free handouts from the government, everyone wants to be poor. We need a systematic and scientific way of actually identifying the poor, so that the decision is not left to the whims and whimsical choices of ward administrators and village heads. The current corrupt practices by a few of them on selection of military conscripts came to the mind.

China, when it started the program, used the famous four looks to determine those in need; house, food on the plate, able-bodied labor in the household and presence of a school going child. Scores and weights are giving on details of each look. Later ‘having a bed ridden patient’ was added to the list. Some provinces added negative list to remove certain populace from the poor list too. An example of a negative list would be ownership of some farm machinery or motor cycle.

Dynamic management, residents’ assistance and support?

After identifying the poor, the dynamic nature of life requires that the list needs verification at village or ward level, nomination by representatives, appraisal by higher authorities, announcement to public, correction if needed, arbitration if disputed and review if necessary.

The support of the program by all residents would ensure that the poor themselves are motivated to get out of poverty. The mindset has to be altered from getting as much handouts as possible to being motivated to determine one’s own destiny. The assistance by capable and well-off residents would also help in the team effort to poverty alleviation.
The team of civil servants implementing the scheme is also critical to the success of the program. They must love the people, act with integrity at all times, work hard, be scientific in their approach, yet realistic, unafraid to face challenges and love the country enough to fully dedicate themselves to this cause. They will be the contact points between the central government and the village. They will provide all the services the program needs and supervise all the aspects of the program.

How do we do that?

The key is to combine village level industrialisation with targeted property alleviation. China industrialised the villages in four key ways;
– upgrading the planting and breeding industries by improving productivity and providing access to the market.
– E commerce by facilitating the village wares and produce to be sold throughout the whole country using e commerce platforms.
– Tourism by promoting unique village attractions, nature and surrounding environment.
– Photovoltaic by selling electricity by solar energy to other regions and provinces in need.

Is that all?
Many books have been written on the triumph of targeted poverty alleviation in China. Even President Xi Jinping has got a book ‘Up and Out of Poverty’, specifically putting down his experiences on the program.

The program is large, nationwide and required unwavering commitments from all those involved.

In the later parts, we will look at the other essentials of its success, entrepreneurship and employment, ecological issues, human resource development, mobilisation, reforms, public services and exit and prevention of return of poverty.

Myanmar may be slow at this point in tackling this face-saving issue, but as Confucius said “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop”.