[15] Burma exports mainly raw materials such as agricultural produce, fish, timber, gems and minerals, and imports consumer goods, electronics, machinery and processed food.

[18] In 2007 the local militia, under orders of the military authorities, seized 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land in the area, mainly tea and orange plantations as well as small farms, with little or no compensation, in a drive to cultivate physic nuts for biodiesel as an alternative fuel.

[21] A joint enterprise between Burma and China to construct oil and gas pipelines from the Bay of Bengal via Mandalay through Muse to Kunming in Yunnan Province starts operations in 2009.

[23][24] The opium poppy harvest had increased since Lo Hsing Han managed to rebuild his drug empire after becoming the intermediary for cease-fire agreements between the military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt and the Kokang and Wa insurgents who had rebelled against and toppled the Communist leadership in 1989.

[26] Gambling, drugs and prostitution flourished in Ruili, but Muse's own efforts to share in the Las Vegas style business atmosphere met with much less success.

[citation needed] Besides the UNODC, a number of groups and organisations such as the Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) and Buddhist monks are also involved in the amelioration of the HIV/AIDS problem among drug users.