Editing Yangon (section)

==Economy==
[[File:01-rio-yangon-d03.jpg|thumb|Cargo ships on the shores of Yangon River, just offshore of Downtown Yangon]]
[[File:Yangon-Markt-04-Marktfrauen-1976-gje.jpg|thumb|A street market in 1976]]

Yangon is the country's main center for trade, industry, real estate, media, entertainment and tourism. The city represents about one fifth of the [[Gross domestic product|national economy]]. According to official statistics for [[Fiscal year|FY]] 2010–2011, the size of the economy of Yangon Region was 8.93&nbsp;trillion kyats, or 23% of the national GDP.<ref name=mt->{{cite news |title=Yangon Region govt facing K22b budget black hole |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/600/news60002.html |author1=Kyaw Hsu Mon |author2=Yadana Htun |name-list-style=amp |date=7 November 2011 |work=The Myanmar Times |access-date=9 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617115438/http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/600/news60002.html |archive-date=17 June 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
[[File:Yangon Pansodan overpass.jpg|thumb|Traffic congestion in Yangon]]

The city is Lower Burma's main trading hub for all kinds of merchandise – from basic foodstuffs to used cars although commerce continues to be hampered by the city's severely underdeveloped banking industry and communication infrastructure. [[Bayinnaung Market]] is the largest wholesale center in the country for rice, [[beans]] and [[pulses]], and other agricultural commodities.<ref name=bm>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.myanmar.com/myanmartimes/MyanmarTimes17-332/b007.htm |title=Market reforms lead to Bayintnaung boom |author1=Zaw Htet |author2=May Thanda Win |name-list-style=amp |date=4 September 2006 |journal=The Myanmar Times |access-date=27 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129150553/http://myanmar.com/myanmartimes/MyanmarTimes17-332/b007.htm |archive-date=29 January 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Much of the country's legal imports and exports go through [[Thilawa Port]], the largest and busiest port in Burma. There is also a great deal of informal trade, especially in street markets that exist alongside street platforms of Downtown Yangon's townships. However, on 17 June 2011, the YCDC announced that street vendors, who had previously been allowed to legally open shop at 3&nbsp; pm, would be prohibited from selling on the streets, and permitted to sell only in their townships of residence.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://mmtimes.com/2011/news/580/news58002.html |title=Vendors belong in markets, says YCDC |author=Nay Nwe Moe Aung |author2=Moh Moh Thaw |date=20 June 2011 |work=Myanmar Times |access-date=18 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002061657/http://mmtimes.com/2011/news/580/news58002.html |archive-date=2 October 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Since 1 December 2009, [[high-density polyethylene]] [[plastic bag]]s have been banned by city authorities.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/no496/n010.htm |title=Mayor reiterates bag ban |author=Myo Myo |date=9 November 2009 |work=Myanmar Times |access-date=18 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612212418/http://www.mmtimes.com/no496/n010.htm |archive-date=12 June 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Manufacturing accounts for a sizeable share of employment. At least 14 light [[industrial park|industrial zones]] ring Yangon,<ref name=iz>{{cite web |url=http://www.industry2.gov.mm/zone.htm |title=Industrial Zones |access-date=25 December 2008 |publisher=Ministry of Industry 2, Myanmar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908023819/http://www.industry2.gov.mm/zone.htm |archive-date=8 September 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> directly employing over 150,000 workers in 4,300 factories in early 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Yangon Division Industrial Zones |url=http://biweeklyeleven.com/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=3:biweekly-eleven-journal&download=53:biweekly-eleven-news-journal-vol-2-no-48&Itemid=152 |work=Bi-Weekly Eleven |volume=2 |issue=48 |date=19 February 2010 |language=my |author=Wai-Yan Phyo Oo |access-date=27 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911002116/http://biweeklyeleven.com/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=3:biweekly-eleven-journal&download=53:biweekly-eleven-news-journal-vol-2-no-48&Itemid=152 |archive-date=11 September 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The city is the centre of country's garment industry which exported US$292&nbsp;million in 2008/9 fiscal year. More than 80 percent of factory workers in Yangon work on a day-to-day basis. Most are young women between 15 and 27 years of age who come from the countryside in search of a better life.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17781 |author=Ba Kaung |date=10 February 2010 |magazine=The Irrawaddy |title=Rangoon Workers End Strike |access-date=27 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506015000/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17781 |archive-date=6 May 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The manufacturing sector suffers from both structural problems (e.g. chronic power shortages) and political problems (e.g. economic sanctions). In 2008, Yangon's 2500 factories alone needed about 120 MW of power;<ref name="HTIZ">{{Cite news |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/no420/b005.htm |title=Hlaing Tharyar IZ rebuilding underway |date=26 May 2008 |author=Ye Lwin |work=The Myanmar Times |access-date=2 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430045932/http://www.mmtimes.com/no420/b005.htm |archive-date=30 April 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> yet, the entire city received only about 250 MW of the 530 MW needed.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Myanmar needs more gas to generate electricity for Yangon |url=http://english.eviewweek.com/Myanmar-needs-more-gas-to-generate-electricity-for-Yangon.shtml |date=3 July 2008}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Chronic power shortages limit the factories' operating hours between 8&nbsp;am and 6&nbsp;pm.<ref name="iz night">{{Cite journal |title=Industrial zones to run at night |date=26 March 2007 |author=Ye Lwin |journal=The Myanmar Times}}</ref>

Construction is a major source of employment. The construction industry has been negatively affected by the move of state apparatus and civil servants to Naypyidaw,<ref name="property">{{Cite news |title=Property market continues to recover |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/feature/Construction/con01.htm |date=3 September 2007 |author=Zaw Htet |work=The Myanmar Times |access-date=23 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828084522/http://www.mmtimes.com/feature/Construction/con01.htm |archive-date=28 August 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> new regulations introduced in August 2009 requiring builders to provide at least 12 parking spaces in every new high-rise building, and the general poor business climate. As of January 2010, the number of new high-rise building starts approved in 2009–2010 was only 334, compared to 582 in 2008–2009.<ref name=mt-bldg-slowdown>{{Cite journal |title=High-rise building slowing down |author=Htar Htar Khin |journal=The Myanmar Times |date=February 2010 |volume=26 |issue=9}}</ref>

Tourism represents a major source of foreign currency for the city although by south-east Asian standards the number of foreign visitors to Yangon has always been quite low—about 250,000 before the [[Saffron Revolution]] in September 2007. The number of visitors dipped even further following the Saffron Revolution and [[Cyclone Nargis]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://burmadigest.info/2008/11/27/tourism-decline-in-burma-in-2008/ |title=Tourism decline in Burma in 2008 |date=27 November 2008 |work=Weekly Eleven Journal |publisher=Burma Digest |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509094945/http://burmadigest.info/2008/11/27/tourism-decline-in-burma-in-2008/ |archive-date=9 May 2010}}</ref> The recent improvement in the country's political climate has attracted an increasing number of businessmen and tourists. Between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors that went through Yangon International in 2011. However, after years of underinvestment, Yangon's modest hotel infrastructure—only 3000 of the total 8000 hotel rooms in Yangon are "suitable for tourists"—is already bursting at seams, and will need to be expanded to handle additional visitors.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Colin Hinshelwood |title=Rangoon Hotels Struggle to Meet Tourist Demand |date=9 February 2012 |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23002 |magazine=The Irrawaddy |access-date=10 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209111849/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23002 |archive-date=9 February 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> As part of an urban development strategy, a hotel zone has been planned in Yangon's outskirts, encompassing government- and military-owned land in [[Mingaladon Township|Mingaladon]], [[Hlegu Township|Hlegu]] and Htaukkyant Townships.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://elevenmyanmar.com/tourism/956-new-hotel-zones-planned-near-yangon |title=New hotel zones planned near Yangon |date=14 October 2012 |work=Weekly Eleven |access-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122010551/http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/tourism/956-new-hotel-zones-planned-near-yangon |archive-date=22 November 2012}}</ref>