I’ve noticed that lately the debate between developing ‘wasteful white elephant’ buildings versus the inclusion of shiny skyscrapers and luxury housing in the New Yangon City has been a keen focus for commentators, social media bloggers and the public. Therefore, this is what I will cover in this week’s discussion.

Last Saturday we held our first NYDC town hall meeting. More than 600 attendees and close to 1,000 viewers joining us via Facebook Live, and there were nearly 25,000 views after the event. It is heartwarming to see the level of interest and the desire of the public to want to have a more in-depth understanding of the New Yangon City project.

Since the launch of the New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) in March this year, questions have been raised about the project in the press and social media. It is very encouraging to see the level of interest in this project, both from those who voice support and from those who question some of the choices made by the Yangon Regional Government and NYDC.

The dramatic political winds of change that swept across Malaysia last month were a reminder of the inherent political risk for any investments. Such risk may be amplified when the new government does not uphold the decisions of the previous one – newly elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has announced that his administration is cancelling various contracts on national infrastructure projects agreed and signed by his predecessor. Similar incidents have been seen locally when new regimes took over the reins of government.

Frontier markets are high-growth, but are also among the smallest, least mature and least liquid economies. These markets are not developed enough to enter the ’emerging’ stage but are growing rapidly and attracting ambitious investors.

However, the economic and political fragility of these countries bring unequivocal risks, and the investment mantra of higher risks means higher returns would be a natural requirement for most investors. It is customary that investors in frontier markets would expect north of 20% for their return on investment.