
YANGON, Myanmar -- Amid the drugs, jade and illegal timber, and the weapons smuggled across porous borders and delivered to ethnic insurgents, Myanmar was for decades viewed as a risky business partner led by a corrupt military that enriched itself while destroying one of Asia's most promising economies.
But that unsavory image has been virtually flipped upside-down since the 2011 start of a reform process that installed a largely civilian government, drew cautious investors to the once isolated authoritarian state, and culminated in November in the election of a National League for Democracy government led by the veteran campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi.