John Baird’s Myanmar trip is about more than just democratic rights

"It's about the economy, stupid" is a phrase that can probably sum up the Harper government's foreign policy.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said as much at a year-end media gathering in his office in Ottawa last December.

"The government's top concern is Canadian economic prosperity," he said according to the National Post.

"It is a lens through which we view almost anything. Foreign policy has become even more important to the economy. It's really essential."

That probably explains the reason behind Baird's trip to Myanmar (also known as Burma) this week.

As reported by Postmedia News, Baird's visit comes amid signs the presiding military junta will allow more democratic freedoms in the country.

Canada, along with several other countries, imposed severe diplomatic and economic sanctions against Myanmar in 1988, in response to widespread human-rights abuses and military crackdowns against protesters.

There's no question that Baird and the Canadian government sincerely care about the democratic rights of the people of Myanmar. But like his trips to Libya, Israel and China, Baird's jaunt to Myanmar has some potential economic advantages.

Myanmar is in serious need of foreign investment for its infrastructure projects.

Canada's strict sanctions against the isolated Asian nation, however, mean Canadian businesses are losing out on these opportunities.

In 2011, for example, Myanmar received a record $20 billion in foreign investment mainly from China, Thailand and Hong Kong. By comparison, they received only $302 million in 2010 and a total of $16 billion for the prior two decades combined.

"There are opportunities for Canadian businesses," Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, a Toronto-based international trade lawyer, wrote in her blog recently.

"China is investing in power projects. Canadian companies could do that too. Canadian businesses have equipment and nation-improvement technology that could be sold to Burma and Burmese projects if the sanctions were listed. Canadian financial institutions and engineering firm, architects, environmental service providers, etc. could get involved in the projects and on the ground."

Baird's trip is also being described as part of a larger attempt to increase Canada's profile in Asia.

Norman Rand, a journalist whose expertise include matters relating to the Asia-Pacific, notes that Canada's increased involvement in Myanmar's economic and political reforms could very well lead to increased trade opportunities with the rest of Asia.

"By revising its Burma policy," Rand writes, "Canada can not only play a major part in the country's transition and help the people of Burma, but it will place us in a better position strategically to advance Canada's interests in the region and reap the looming benefits of a country rich in energy and mineral resources located at the strategic crossroads of Asia."